Broken
by Alistensrude
Summary: Ten years after Sophie Kozik and Jax Teller broke up, Jax learns that Sophie's in a dangerous situation. And in true Sophie fashion, she doesn't want help dealing with it. Complicating matters, Tara Knowles has returned to Charming. Jax has feelings for both of them. So, who will his heart choose? Disclaimer: I do not own SOA.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I was hoping to have this posted a couple of days ago. Sorry for the delay. Still sharing computers until tomorrow. **

_Things you should know: This story is set in 2008, about ten years after Sophie and Jax broke up. Sophie didn't go far from Charming. She lived in Lodi until 2003 when Opie went to prison. At that time, she moved in with Donna to help with the bills and watching the kids. Sophie goes to see Otto regularly in prison. She stayed in contact with Juice. Tara has recently moved back to Charming._

**2008**

Sophie Kozik quietly put the pictures she'd been looking at back into the box and wiped the tears from her eyes. She couldn't believe the old man had lived another ten years. He'd been going on his usual run to keep himself able to vote when a drunk driver broadsided him. Juice was sure to tell her that he'd been killed instantly and hadn't suffered. It didn't make it any easier to say goodbye to the old galoot who had always given her a hard time.

Sophie couldn't believe that she was going to be face to face with Jackson Teller after all of these years, either. She'd been living in Charming for five years and had successfully managed to avoid seeing him. It wasn't that hard, though. She went to work at Unser Trucking and went home. If she did go out, she knew the places where the Sons weren't likely to frequent. Of course, with Tig Trager transferring down to Charming and becoming Clay's Sergeant at Arms made it impossible for her to avoid all news of the club and it's now Vice President. It had almost ripped her heart out to hear that Jax had actually married Wendy two years ago. It hurt to find out that Wendy was pregnant with Jax's baby. Sophie was supposed to marry Jax, it was supposed to be her giving birth to his children. As so often happened, she flashed back to the afternoon in the Clubhouse when she found Jax in bed with Emily Duncan; the day they were supposed to be getting married. She thought about the discussion at their small dining room table later that same day. Sophie was sobbing, she remembered the physical pain she felt and the betrayal that made her want to physically hurt Jax. For his part, Jax had been shocked and confused about the events leading up to him being in bed with Emily. He couldn't remember much of that night and he'd been sure that he hadn't had too much to drink because he didn't want to be hung over at the ceremony. To make matters more confusing, he had woken up with his jeans still on, the belt in place around his hips, and his socks still on. However, Jax had decided that Sophie was too young to be married to somebody like him, a womanizer, an outlaw. He wanted more for her; better. She deserved that.

Sophie pushed the thoughts away and grabbed her purse off the couch. Things hadn't ever been the same with other men. She'd been living with Charming Police Officer Peter O'Malley for six months. She was in love with him but not like she loved Jax. She sighed and left the apartment.

* * *

Jackson Teller stretched his tired muscles and walked out of the garage bay to have a cigarette. He had to get ready for Doc's funeral pretty soon. People were milling about the parking lot, like usual. Just another day in the life. Only, Jax's life had changed drastically recently. Abel was born two days ago and might not live thanks to Wendy's drug habit. He was divorced. And he'd been doing what he was good at: alcohol, weed, and pussy. It was worse than after Tara left. And that was something else entirely. Now the good doctor was back in Charming, had even saved Abel's life. Tara had come around a few times and Jax had to admit that it was good to have her back. It gave him hope that he might actually have a chance at some semblance of happiness. He still had feelings for the first woman he had ever loved but he often thought of Sophie Kozik. He'd seen her around Charming, sometimes he'd hide in the shadows just watching her, trying to ease the ache that was constantly in his heart.

"Jax, can I talk to you for a second?" a voice asked from behind him. Jax turned and was surprised to find Pete O'Malley walking up to him.

"This about what happened to Doc?" Jax asked, unsure as to why the officer was visiting him.

"Nah, this is about Sophie." Pete replied. "She's been acting kind of strange lately. She only wears long sleeved shirts and pants even on the hottest days. She only wears her hair in a braid."

"What does this have to do with me?" Jax asked. It was weird for Pete to be asking him questions about Sophie. It'd been ten years since he'd been with Sophie. How would he know anything about her now?

"I thought maybe she'd done something similar when she was with you." Pete said.

"Nope," Jax shook his head.

"I'm just afraid she might be hurting herself." Pete said, concern showing on his face.

"Hurting herself?" Jax asked. He was shocked. The Sophie he knew wouldn't hurt herself.

"I don't know for sure. I was just hoping maybe you had some insight into her behavior." Pete said.

"I haven't talked to her in ten years." Jax replied. "I don't even know her anymore. Anyway, I gotta get ready for Doc's funeral."

* * *

Sophie stood in the throng of people gathered to say goodbye to Doc. Her eyes easily found Jax in the crowd. She had to force herself not to stare at him. Tig and Juice were on either side of her. She could feel Jax's eyes on her. She knew that she would have to talk to him if he approached her. Sophie could also feel the glare of Gemma's eyes on her. She was sure Gemma wasn't happy to see her there.

Sophie was walking back to her car when it happened. She was about to open her car door and then there was Jax, leaning next to her. Her heart jumped into her throat.

"Hey," he said quietly.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"How you been?" Jax asked. She looked scared and exhausted.

"Fine. You?" Sophie replied.

"I've been busy." Jax said trying to read her.

"I heard." Sophie said quietly.

Jax felt that something was wrong with her. She barely looked at him, she looked at her feet more.

"You sure you're okay, darlin?" Jax asked.

"Yeah, I just have to get back to work." Sophie said.

"I found out what happened that night." Jax said. He wasn't sure he was going to bring that up but seeing her like she was he knew he had to tell her the truth.

She looked up at him then, her eyes meeting his. "What?"

"Wendy told me all about it in the hospital. Wendy got some drugs for Kyle to put in our drinks. Then he took Emily and me and put us into bed together so that you would find us. That's why our pants were still on. Nothing happened between us that night." Jax said. He felt relief flood through him now that she knew the truth.

"God, those two are psychos." Sophie groused. "I can't believe they did that."

"Well, believe it, babe." Jax flashed her his famous grin.

"That must be a relief to know." Sophie said trying to clamp down on her fast beating heart.

"Isn't it for you?" Jax asked. "Now you know I never cheated on you."

"It's good to know, Jax, but it doesn't change the fact that you practically threw me out of the apartment." Sophie said fighting back tears.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Jax sighed at his own stupidity all those years ago. "I wish I had never done that."

"But then you wouldn't have Abel." Sophie pointed out.

"No, but I'd have other kids with you." Jax said.

"Well, it wasn't in the cards for us." Sophie said. "I really need to get back to work."

Jax moved out of the way and watched as the love of his life pulled out of the parking lot.

* * *

"How's the kid?" Jax asked Tara later that night. Donna and Opie had come with him to see Abel.

"Good," Tara said, "he's getting stronger."

"Teller blood for sure," Donna smirked.

"Shit," Tara whispered.

"What?" Jax asked, his eyebrows knitting together with concern.

"It's Pete O'Malley." Tara said quietly.

"Oh God, I hate that guy." Donna said shivering.

"You hate Sophie's boyfriend?" Opie asked. "You've never said anything."

"He's creepy," Donna said.

"I'm pretty sure he's the reason his girlfriend is here so much." Tara said. "I can't prove anything and with him being a cop, he knows just what to say."

"And you should hear him talk to her." Donna said. "He's always calling her stupid, fat, or other horrible names."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Jax demanded.

Tara looked at him, confusion on her face. She didn't know Jax's relationship to Sophie. Tara only knew that Sophie was somebody's old lady. She figured that Sophie had dated Juice.

"She asked me not to," Donna said. "She didn't want Tig or you or Opie, or her brother to handle it. She said it wasn't a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Tara huffed. "She has a tattoo on her ring finger on her left hand. I couldn't really tell what it was but she said that she'd cut it getting dinner ready. I know an accidental cut from a deliberate one. That bastard tried to cut that tattoo off her."

"Jesus," Jax spat angrily. "He tried to cut the 'J' off her finger."

"She also has to come in a lot for bruised or broken ribs on her right side. A lot of times you can't even tell she has a crow there." Tara said. "He's good too. He could tell I was suspicious so he's come to me a couple of times asking about depression signs and self-harm. He's making it sound like she's hurting herself, throwing herself down the stairs."

"You gonna go deal with him?" Opie asked knowing that murderous look on his best-friend's face.

"Oh yeah." Jax said. "I think I'll pay him a little visit." The conversation with Pete earlier ran through his head. Pete was covering his bases it seemed.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Jax knocked on the door of the apartment that Sophie occupied with Pete O'Malley. Jax had gotten the info from a very reluctant Juice. It was no secret that Juice had kept in contact with Sophie but he held steadfast against revealing too much information about where she was, what she was doing; in fact, whenever Jax asked about Sophie, Juice shrugged and said that she was doing fine. Juice felt like an idiot when Jax informed him that Sophie was being hurt. Juice had no idea that Pete ever laid hands on Sophie. If he'd known, he would have taken care of it.

Sophie opened the door, surprise evident on her face. She shot a quick look over her shoulder and quietly slipped out of the apartment. "What are you doing here?"

"Your boyfriend stopped by to see me yesterday." Jax said.

"Oh?" Sophie said. Jax noticed immediately that she was looking at her feet and not at him.

"Said you might be hurting yourself." Jax said.

Sophie looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"What's going on?" Jax asked.

"Nothing." Sophie shook her head. "It's nothing I can't handle."

"What does Kozik think about this?" Jax asked.

"He doesn't think anything. Just leave it alone, Jackson." Sophie said getting angry.

"You know I can't do that, darlin." Jax answered.

"You don't have a choice in the matter." Sophie reminded him.

"Everything okay?" Pete asked peeking his head out of the door.

"Yeah." Sophie said quickly going back into the apartment.

"What are you doing here, Teller?" Pete asked slipping out the door.

"Just checking on my girl." Jax shrugged.

"She's not your girl." Pete said menacingly. "She's mine."

"You ever lay hands on her again and you'll answer to me." Jax said before leaving.

* * *

"Unser," Jax said spotting the police chief among the other police officers in the station.

"Yeah," Wayne said approaching the blonde biker.

"I need a favor." Jax said.

"Of course you do." Wayne sighed.

"Your boy, O'Malley, has been laying hands on Sophie." Jax said.

"Shit," Wayne rubbed his forehead. "I had no idea."

"I need you to fire her." Jax said.

"You need me to fire _her_?" Wayne asked. "Why on Earth would I fire one of my best workers? Been with me almost ten years."

"I'll get Ma to hire her on at TM. That way I can keep an eye on her." Jax replied.

"Shit," Wayne repeated. "You're lucky I give a shit about this girl or I wouldn't go along with this."

"Of course you would, old man." Jax grinned. "You love me and you know it."

"Yeah," Wayne huffed, "like I love a pain in the ass."

"Thanks," Jax said. He caught Pete's glare from across the room and returned it before leaving the police station.

* * *

"What's the matter, baby?" Pete asked when he walked into the apartment after work and found Sophie in a daze.

"I got fired today," Sophie said.

"Unser fired you?" Pete asked.

"Yeah," Sophie nodded.

"You don't seem too upset about it." Pete replied.

"That's because not a half hour later Gemma called and offered me a job at TM." Sophie answered.

"No," Pete said.

"I need a job." Sophie said. "There's nothing else out there."

"I'd rather you work at the Jelly Bean." Pete said angrily.

"You'd rather I strip for a bunch of guys than be a mechanic?" Sophie asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I would." Pete said.

"No way! I'd never strip!" Sophie cried.

"You saying no to me?" Pete asked angrily.

"Yeah, I am!" Sophie shouted angrily. She regretted it the minute she said it. The look on his face told her she was in for it.

* * *

"Hey," Jax said smiling when he spotted Tara. "How's Abel doing?"

"Good. He's getting stronger every day. He's a strong guy. Just like his dad." She smiled at him flirtatiously.

"That's 'cause he has such a pretty doctor." Jax flirted right back. It was weird. When he was with Sophie he forgot all about Tara. But when he was with Tara, there was still that niggling in the back of his head that Sophie was in trouble.

"Nice, Teller." Tara laughed.

"Just bein honest." Jax replied.

* * *

"Juice," Sophie croaked out when he answered the phone.

"You okay?" He asked, concerned.

"No," She answered. Her tongue darted out across a busted lip. "I need you to come get me."

"I'll be right there." Juice said concerned.

"What's up?" Tig asked when Juice closed his phone.

"Soph needs me to go pick her up. Something's wrong." Juice said heading out of the Clubhouse.

"I'm with you." Tig said right away.

"Me too." Opie replied.

* * *

"Yeah?" Jax stepped out of the NICU to answer his phone.

"Jax," Opie said quickly. "You at the hospital?"

"Yeah," Jax answered.

"Sophie's on her way there in an ambulance." Opie said.

"What? Why?" Jax yelled. Tara stepped out of the NICU to see why Jax was upset.

"She's in rough shape." Opie said. "Got worked over pretty good."

"Jesus," Jax spat. "I told that son of a bitch to keep his hands off of her."

"He really didn't listen, brother." Opie said before closing his phone.

* * *

Jax felt anger and murder rise in his blood as he sat in the chair next to Sophie's hospital bed. Her face was a mass of bruises. Her lip was split and her left eye was swollen shut. Tara had informed Jax that every inch of Sophie's body was covered in bruises of varying age. Sophie'd been covering them up with long sleeve shirts and long pants. The very things Pete had pretended to be worried about.

The thing that set Jax's blood boiling the most were the angry bruises around Sophie's throat. The son of a bitch had choked her, that was evident.

"She's going to be okay," Tara said softly from the doorway.

Jax just nodded. "The son of a bitch that did this won't be."

"Juice said her brother is on his way down from Tacoma. I'm sure they'll handle it." Tara said. She still had no idea the ties Sophie had to Jax.

"Unser here yet?" Jax asked knowing that a police report would be taken. He'd had Juice call Unser and give the chief a detailed report of what they'd found.

"No," Tara said. "Kinda surprised more of the Sons aren't here."

"Tig, Juice, Ope, and Chibs are packing her stuff. She'll be staying at the Clubhouse until this is taken care of." Jax replied.

"Probably for the best." Tara said. "I have to start my rounds before my shift is over."

Jax just nodded and gave her a small smile. "Thanks."

"For?" Tara asked.

"Everything." Jax held his hand out to her. She walked over to him and intertwined her fingers with his. He placed a small kiss to her knuckles.

"You're welcome." She smiled back before leaving the room.

"You know," Jax said softly to Sophie, "I'm going to kill this son of a bitch. Nobody puts a hand on SAMCRO. I never expected you not to date after we...left things the way we did. But I never expected you to end up with a shithead like this. You don't have to worry about him anymore, Soph. He's not going to hurt you again. I promise." Jax repeated the actions he'd just done with Tara. He intertwined his fingers with Sophie's and kissed her knuckles.


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm going to skin this guy, man." Tig said as he paced the main room, running a hand through his hair.

"Not if I get to him first." Happy groused.

"That's if Jax gives you a chance to get to him." Opie threw in.

"Where is my VP?" Clay asked, joining the three Sons at the bar.

"Hospital." Tig answered.

"Say he's not leaving until Soph wakes up." Opie said.

"Might be a problem if Kozik gets there before then." Clay said.

"Nah, Koz and Jax are cool." Juice said joining the crew at the bar. "What does Unser say?"

"He couldn't say much," Opie smirked. "I was with him when that piece of shit showed up at the police station. Unser walked up to him, slugged him, and said 'Fired.' before placing O'Malley under arrest."

"They got proof? 'Cause the justice system is all about proof." Clay said.

"His hands and arms are full of cuts and scratches. She left three nice gashes across his face with her nails." Opie said.

"She's a fighter, that one." Clay couldn't help but smirk, remembering the beating she gave Kyle when he'd attacked her years ago.

"She learned from the best." Happy said, grinning.

* * *

Sophie moaned, momentarily confused. Everything hurt, the room she was in was dark, and her right hand was pinned down by another hand.

"Shhh," somebody said softly. They leaned forward and brushed some hair away from her face. She instantly felt the confusion leave and the feeling of safety overwhelm her.

"Shit," She croaked, her throat burned from being choked.

"You remember what happened?" Jax asked softly. He'd fallen asleep waiting for Sophie to wake up, his fingers still intertwined with hers.

"Yeah, a little." She grimaced against the pain. "He still alive?"

"For now." Jax smirked. "Got arrested so he's safe for a little bit."

She nodded slowly. "What now?"

"You get better, find some place else to live, work at TM." Jax shrugged.

"What if I don't want to find another place to live?" Sophie asked quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Then he finds another place to live." Jax replied.

"What if I still want to be with him?" Sophie asked. She didn't want to be with Pete anymore but she might as well have a little fun with Jax.

"Nice try but I Know you'd never go back after this." Jax shook his head. "I just can't see why you stayed at all."

"Of course it wasn't like this at first." She said. "It was nice. Then, we started living together."

"But after the first time, why didn't you leave? He tried to cut the tattoo off your finger." Jax said, his eyes pleading. He wanted to understand.

"It's hard to leave what you think you deserve." Sophie said sadly.

"What do you mean, what you deserve? Nobody, least of all you, deserves that kind of shit." Jax said.

"This is the longest I've ever been with somebody since you and I broke up." Sophie said. "And we weren't together all that long. I figured something must be wrong with me."

"There's nothing wrong with you." Jax said. "Us breaking up wasn't your fault. It's not your fault that Pete likes to put his hands on women."

"Yeah." Sophie said sadly.

"Hey," Jax said forcefully. "Nobody-"

"I _know, _Jax." Sophie huffed. "I'm SAMCRO and nobody puts a hand on SAMCRO. Only that didn't work out so well this time, did it? Being SAMCRO doesn't stop bad shit from happening."

"I know, babe. I wish it did." Jax said kissing her knuckles.

* * *

Jax left Sophie sleeping the next morning. Kozik was going to stop by to visit his sister any minute and Jax wanted to check on Abel.

"Hey, little man." Jax said softly to his sleeping son.

"He's doing really well." Tara said joining Jax at the incubator.

"How long's he gotta be in the toaster?" Jax asked.

"Not sure yet. Close to two months. He's got a lot of growing to do and we need to make sure his lungs develop correctly." Tara said.

"That's a long time." Jax said.

"What about Wendy?" Tara asked him. "You and her..."

Jax shook his head when she didn't continue. "No. She'll go to rehab...again. After that, who knows? There's nothing keeping her in Charming except Abel."

"She really misses you, Jax." Tara said softly.

"There's too much broken between us." Jax replied. "I was tired of the endless disconnected from sleeping with countless women. She wanted somebody to fix her. I couldn't do that and she couldn't end the disconnected. I failed us both."

"You didn't fail, Jax." Tara said putting a hand on his shoulder. "Sometimes, the burden is too much for one person to carry alone."

"Yeah," He said taking in her words. "But I didn't try hard enough when I found out she was pregnant. I bailed."

"You're so good at beating yourself up over other people's mistakes." Tara scoffed and shook her head. "You may have bailed but it was her pumping drugs into her veins. That sin's on her, not you."

"Thanks, Doc." Jax gave her a small grin.

"For?" Tara asked.

"Always saying the things I need to hear." He put a hand on her hip and kissed her cheek. He paused as he was pulling away. It felt good to be this close to Tara again, to have her there to tell him that despite the what the voice inside his head told him, not everything was his fault. A tap on the window pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Kozik standing outside.

"Hey," Jax said joining Kozik in the hall.

"Man," Kozik ran a hand over his face. "I just..."

"Yeah," Jax nodded, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall. "Been goin on for awhile from what she's said."

"If I had known about any of this." Kozik said angrily.

"She didn't tell you. There was no way to know. I talked to Donna about it this morning. Donna had no idea. Her and Sophie are best-friends. That's how well Soph hid it. There were never any bruises where anybody could see them." Jax explained.

"I'm going to kill this bastard." Kozik promised. "Then I'm taking Sophie back to Tacoma with me like I should have done years ago."


	4. Chapter 4

"What do you mean you're not going?" Kozik demanded.

"I mean, I'm not going." Sophie huffed.

"Of course you're going. What choice do you have?" He asked his sister.

"Excuse me? What choice do I have?" Sophie scoffed. "I have the choice to stay here or leave. I have the choice to go to Tacoma or Timbuktu if I wanted. I have every choice in the world and I choose to stay."

"No." Kozik said flatly. "You can't stay here. Not until this guy is taken care of."

"Jesus," Sophie grumped. "You sound just like him. 'You can't go here, you can't go there. Do this, do that.'"

"I am nothing like him." Kozik snarled. "I would never lay my hands on you."

"I'm not going with you, Herman." Sophie said.

"Yes, you are." Kozik shot back. "And that's final."

"What's final?" Jax asked walking through the door.

"She's coming back to Tacoma with me." Kozik answered.

"The hell I am!" Sophie yelled, the strain making her vocal chords hurt. "I'm staying here."

"You have no-"

"I swear beyond everything holy, Herman Dewy Kozik, if you say that I don't have a choice one more time, I will **choose** to get out of this bed and kick you in the balls." Sophie threatened.

"Dude, I don't think she's kidding." Jax said. He could almost see the steam rolling off Sophie. She was more pissed off than he'd ever seen her before.

"I don't care if she's kidding." Kozik said. "I'll get over it in a few minutes and then it won't be an issue anymore because she's still going to Tacoma."

"I am not." Sophie replied. "You're being unreasonable."

"I think I have a reason to be unreasonable!" Kozik yelled. "You got the shit beat out of you by a guy you were living with."

"Were? What do you mean were?" Sophie asked. "I still live there!"

"Actually, darlin, you don't." Jax said putting his hands in his back pockets.

"What are you talking about?" Sophie asked confused.

"Some of the guys packed your stuff the other day. It's all at the Clubhouse." Jax explained.

"So, now not only will he be looking for me but he'll be looking for my stuff, as well." Sophie sighed. "Wonderful."

"Nah, I think the surprise waiting for him when he goes home will be enough to make him forget about you." Jax grinned.

"What's waiting for him?" Sophie asked.

"Well, Unser's going to call us before he gets out and then Happy is going to sit in the apartment and wait for him." Jax explained.

"You're letting Happy deal with him?" Sophie asked, shocked. "That's...that's just..."

"That's justice, darlin." Jax said.

"I don't need justice." Sophie said.

"Well, you're getting it." Kozik snarled. "If you won't come back home with me, then we get to take care of this guy."

"You are both psychotic." Sophie sighed. "Now, get out, both of you. I need some sleep."

Jax kissed her on the forehead and left her room with Kozik in tow.

"You know she's not going back to Tacoma with you, right?" Jax asked.

"I know. I just hate that she's so far away that I can't do anything." Kozik ran a hand through his hair.

"Look, man, nobody knew this was happening. If we had, we would have taken care of it a long time ago." Jax said. "Juice didn't even know and you know how close they are."

"She keeps shit hidden pretty well." Kozik said.

"Hey, guys," Tara smiled coming up to the pair.

"Hey," Jax smiled back.

"Hey," Kozik said seriously.

"How's the little guy doin today?" Jax asked.

"Good." Tara said.

"Good." Jax replied. "You know where Sophie's doctor is? I wanna see when she's getting out of this joint."

"No, I haven't seen him today. I can go find out though." Tara offered.

"That would be great, thanks." Jax smiled.

"What's up with that?" Kozik asked when Tara was out of earshot. "I didn't know she came back."

"Been back a couple of weeks now." Jax shrugged. "Saved my kid's life."

"You tappin her?"

"No," Jax shook his head. "I don't know if I want to go there again. That was some crazy shit."

"What about Sophie?" Kozik asked.

"What about Sophie?" Jax asked back, confused.

"You gonna get back together with her?" Kozik asked.

"I dunno, man. I got a lot of shit to deal with right now. There's the club and Abel. She's just getting out of a bad relationship. I doubt she's going to want to just jump right back into something. There's just a lot to figure out." Jax replied.

"Hey, Doc," Kozik tipped his head towards Tara as she came back down the hall towards them. "What's the word?"

"She's being discharged tomorrow." Tara smiled.

"That's great." Kozik said. "Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem." Tara said.

"I'm going to see the kid." Jax said. "I'll catch up with you later." He said to Kozik.

* * *

"I am not staying at the Clubhouse, Jackson." Sophie huffed the next day. She was getting dressed so she could leave.

"Look, Soph. You'll be staying in my old room. It's just until you find some place else to stay after Pete is taken care of." Jax said.

"Urgh. You're not listening. I didn't say I didn't want to stay at the Clubhouse. I said I _wasn't_going to stay there." Sophie said. "I can stay with a friend."

"No," Jax shook his head. "If you're with a friend, then I gotta put the prospect on your door. If you're at the Clubhouse, I know you're safe."

"You are so much like my brother." Sophie crossed her arms over her chest. Jax felt the blood drain from one head and rush south to the other. He'd forgotten how amplified her rack became when she did that. "Stop staring at my tits and listen to me!"

"I wasn't staring." Jax said.

"I. Am. Not. Staying. At. The. Clubhouse." Sophie said slowly.

"Where are you going to stay then?" Jax challenged. "If he gets out of jail and comes after you before he goes back to the apartment, what're you going to do?"

"I don't know." Sophie said rubbing her forehead. "I hadn't really thought about it."

"Well, I have." Jax said. "There's only one solution."

"What's that?" Sophie cocked an eyebrow at him.

"You're staying at my place." Jax shrugged.

"No, Jax-"

"Stop arguing. You know you're not going to win." Jax said. "You'll stay in my guest room until things are safe and then you can find some place else. You can help me put the nursery together."

"Yeah, that's going to go well until Gemma finds out." Sophie grumped.

"Soph, don't worry about her." Jax said. "I'll take care of it. Some guys will be by to put in some new carpet and paint. If they give you any problems let me know."

"You gonna let Unser give me my job back or are you dead-set on me working at TM?" Sophie asked.

"You're working at TM." Jax said. "How'd you know about me asking Unser to fire you?"

"He told me." Sophie shrugged. "He said he had to fire me as a favor to you. Jax, with our history, I don't know if it's a good idea for us to be staying together."

"Don't worry, darlin. I'll be the perfect gentleman." He grinned.

Sophie snorted out a laugh.

"No, seriously," Jax said running his hands up her arms. "We'll have separate bedrooms. It's either this or you go back to Tacoma. You know Kozik will drug you and drag you back there if he thinks you're in danger."

"Ugh, fine, I'll stay with you." Sophie reluctantly agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Unfortunately, classes start back up for me on Tuesday the 22nd. Just a heads up that updating may not be as frequent as it is now...or maybe it'll more frequent, we'll see. :)**

"What?" Jax asked as he set a duffel bag of Sophie's things in the guest bedroom. He noticed she was looking at him critically.

"Nothing." Sophie shrugged. "It's just weird to see you with shorter hair and almost clean shaven."

"Wendy has sensitive skin." Jax explained. "It was easier to shave than to listen to her bitch."

"You going to grow it out?" Sophie asked.

"I dunno." Jax shrugged. "I haven't really thought about it."

"Understandable. You have a lot on your plate right now." Sophie said.

"Yeah, I do." Jax agreed.

"I'm glad Abel's going to be okay." Sophie said.

"Me, too." Jax smiled.

"You and Wendy gonna share custody?" Sophie asked.

"We haven't talked about it. She has to get clean first and stay that way. Then, we'll see." Jax shrugged. "I gotta get to work. Lock the door after I leave and don't open it for anybody."

"What about the guys putting in new carpet and painting?" Sophie asked.

"They'll be here tomorrow." Jax replied.

"Okay," Sophie nodded. It was weird being in Jax's house.

"Make yourself at home." He gave her a small smile before leaving the house. Sophie did as she was told and locked the door behind him. She plopped herself down onto his black leather couch and turned on the tv.

* * *

Jax relaxed when he pulled into his driveway later that evening. He had had a hard time concentrating on work. His thoughts wandered to Sophie, wondering what she was doing.

"How was your day?" Jax asked as he walked through the door. He was happy that he'd had to unlock the door. At least she'd listened to him.

"When can I start work?" Sophie asked.

"When you feel up to it, I guess." Jax shrugged. "Why?"

"I have been so bored. Sitting around watching tv is not fun." Sophie grumped.

"You could probably hang out in the office, do some filing or something." Jax said.

"Oh yeah, hang out with your mom all day." Sophie rolled her eyes. "She'd love to give me shit all day."

"Good point." Jax grinned. "But I don't think she'll be too hard on you. She missed you."

"Yeah. I doubt it, Jax. She hates me." Sophie replied.

"Nah, darlin." Jax said. "She just wanted us to slow down."

"Well, she got her wish." Sophie smiled sadly.

"Hey," Jax said, eager to change the subject, "I'm going to see the kid for a bit. I'll pick up a pizza on my way home."

"Sounds good." Sophie replied.

* * *

"Hey," Jax smiled at Tara.

"Hey," she replied with her own smile. "Something wrong?"

"Nah," Jax shrugged. "It's just been a long day."

"I hear that." Tara rolled her eyes.

"Been slammed?" Jax asked.

"Yeah, it's been crazy." Tara replied.

"Got time to see the kid with me?"

"Yeah, I'd like that." Tara said.

Jax took her hand and walked with her to Abel's room. They stood in silence for awhile, holding hands and watching Abel.

"I should probably go." Jax said after an hour.

"Yeah," Tara agreed softly. "I need to get started on my rounds."

"See ya later." Jax said.

* * *

"Pizza's here." Jax called as he walked through the door. He was not happy that it was unlocked. "Soph?" Jax put the pizza on the kitchen table, worry filling his head. The tv was off. The house was quiet. He quickly checked the guest room to see if maybe Sophie had decided to get some sleep. The bed was empty.

"Sophie!" Jax yelled. He heard the sliding glass door open and laughter. He rounded the corner.

"Hey," Sophie said smiling. Juice was still giggling over something.

"The front door was unlocked." Jax said stupidly. He didn't know what else to say. He was trying to ignore the jealousy he felt that Sophie had been outside with Juice doing God knows what.

"Juice!" Sophie said, slapping her friend on the shoulder. "I told you to lock the door."

"Sorry, man," Juice shrugged. "I figured it was okay since O'Malley doesn't go in front of the judge until tomorrow."

"How'd you find that out?" Jax asked.

"I'm a hacker. It's what I do." Juice looked at Jax like he was losing his mind. "I'm gonna go."

"Aaaaaw, fine." Sophie pouted. "See ya later."

"Bye." Juice rolled his eyes. "Later, Jax."

"Yeah," Jax said tipping his head at his friend. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," Sophie shrugged. "He just wanted to see his friend."

"That all you two are? Friends?" Jax asked as he pulled down a couple of plates and grabbed beers from the fridge. He set a plate and beer in front of Sophie and sat down.

"Wow." Sophie smiled. "You have nothing to worry about, Jax." Sophie teased.

"I'm only worried about O'Malley getting out of jail." Jax replied before taking a pull off his beer.

"You were worried about what Juice and I were doing. I can see it in your eyes." Sophie grinned.

"You always did know how to read me best." Jax gave her a half smile.

"Juice and I are just friends, Jackson." Sophie said. "That's all we're ever going to be."

"Except for when you make him your prostitute." Jax laughed.

"Oh, God," Sophie groaned. "Don't remind me! I had such a bad hangover the next morning."

"I remember," Jax smirked.

The rest of the night was spent pleasantly enough. They watched some tv together, each on opposite ends of the couch. Jax's hands itched to pull Sophie close and snuggle with her but he didn't know if she'd welcome that or not and he didn't want to make her mad. It was about midnight when Jax yawned and flicked off the tv. Sophie stood up and stretched then they walked down the hall to their respective rooms.

"Night," Jax said softly, pausing in his doorway.

"Night, Jax." Sophie turned and smiled at him. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

"Sure." Jax grinned. "If you need anything, I'm right across the hall."

"Yeah." Sophie said. She closed the door and changed into her pjs. She lay in bed, the sheets cool against her skin. She thought about Jax. He was sleeping right across the hall from her...alone. She thought about finding out that he hadn't cheated on her. Her heart felt like a huge hole had been somewhat repaired. The love of her life hadn't betrayed her on the day they were to be bound together. Her fingers traced the healing cut under the "J" tattoo on her left ring finger. Sophie fell asleep wondering what her life would have been like if Jax and her had gotten married all those years ago.

Jax lay with his hands behind his head. He thought about the woman across the hall. He always felt comfortable with Tara. It felt nice and familiar to hold her hand. But Sophie made him feel alive. He had to fight the screaming urge to get up and go across the hall. He just wanted to hold her. He wanted to feel her snuggled against him again. Of course, he wanted to feel other parts of her as well. Her lips, her breasts, her tight tight surrounding him. Jax clamped his eyes shut and shook his head. He needed to put those thoughts away so he could get some sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Sophie sighed as she put the key to Jax's house on the table and turned to leave. A lot had happened over the past month. Pete didn't get his bail lowered like he had been hoping when he went before the judge so he was still sitting in jail. Jax and Sophie had fallen into a routine that Sophie had to break out of. For the past month, Jax came home from work, Sophie would cook dinner for them, they would eat and idly chat, then Jax would leave. Sophie did the laundry and the cleaning which didn't bother her because she was staying free of charge at Jax's house. However, Jax always made some lame excuse as to where he went. Mostly, Jax would say he was at the hospital visiting Abel but Sophie knew better. She knew he wasn't off doing Club business as much as he said he was and she knew that he wasn't at the hospital as much as he said. It didn't bother Sophie that Jax was going out at night. He was free to come and go as he pleased. She just didn't like him lying about it. The first night Jax hadn't come home after Sophie had started staying at his house had also hurt her more than was rational. Bit his reaction to her telling him that she'd found a place had gutted her. He'd just shrugged and said "okay" before walking out the door.

* * *

Jax was happy with the routine of his life lately. He got up, went to work or the Clubhouse, saw Abel, ate dinner with Sophie, then went to see Abel until Tara got off work. Then, they went back to her place to hang out like old times. More times than not, they ended up in bed together. Jax relived the first time he entered Tara after all of the years apart. It felt good and familiar. It felt right. Then, when he got home, everything was clean. The beer bottles that littered his bedroom and living room were gone. The laundry would be folded and put on his bed. It was great.

Jax stopped short when he walked into his house. It was dark and quiet. Sophie wasn't there to great him. She wasn't flitting around the kitchen making them dinner. The tv wasn't on, providing background noise. He noticed the key on the kitchen table. What was going on? Why had Sophie left her key? Jax moved to the spare bedroom. The bed was made but none of Sophie's things were there. Likewise, the bathroom was empty as well. Her toothbrush, shampoo, razor, everything was gone. Jax fell against the wall. When had this happened? Why had she left without telling him?

The next morning, Jax angrily stalked up to Sophie in the garage. She was laughing with Juice about something which made Jax even more angry.

"Hey, Jax." Juice said. The smile immediately fell of his face when he saw Jax's rage. Sophie caught the look and turned to face Jax.

"What's the matter?" Sophie asked.

"Where were you last night?" Jax demanded.

"I'm gonna go." Juice said awkwardly before practically running out of the garage.

"I was at home. Why?" Sophie shrugged.

"The fuck you were! You didn't come home at all! Your stuff's gone, your key was on the table." Jax practically shouted at her.

"Oh my God, are you mental?" Sophie rolled her eyes. "I told you two weeks ago that I had a new place to live."

"The fuck you did!" Jax snarled.

"The fuck I didn't!" Sophie shot back. "I remember it very clearly. I said 'Jax, I rented a house today. I'll be out of your hair in two weeks.' You shrugged, said 'Okay,' and walked out the door."

Jax racked his brain, trying to remember. He knew that she'd said something about a house but he'd been in such a hurry to get to Abel and Tara that he hadn't really been paying attention. "Oh," was all he could muster. Sophie angrily huffed and turned back to the car she was working on.

* * *

Sophie spent the last few minutes before lunch chatting with Gemma. Gemma had surprised the hell out of Sophie by giving her a huge hug and an apology on the day Sophie started at TM a month before. Sophie was glad that Gemma didn't hate her, the matriarch had turned into a real ally. Sophie looked up when a car pulled into the parking lot and rolled her eyes. It was the familiar black Cutlass of one Tara Knowles. The brunette doctor stepped out of the car and was immediately swept up in a hug by Jax before he sealed his lips to hers.

"Makes ya sick, doesn't it?" Gemma snarked. "I wish that bitch had just stayed away."

"He's a grown man, Gem. I got no claim to him. He can do whatever with whomever." Sophie shrugged.

"My son is an idiot." Gemma shook her head. "You better get goin. You know how he gets when you aren't there on time."

"Yes, Mama Bear." Sophie smiled. She wiped her hands on a rag, took off her work shirt and drove out of the parking lot. These were her favorite times. Times she could relax and forget about the troubles that plagued her.

"Where's she goin?" Jax asked as he lit a cigarette.

"The doc leave already?" Gemma asked.

"She had some errands to run." Jax shrugged. "Where'd Soph go?"

"You try really hard not to pay attention to her." Gemma smirked. "She has had a lunch date with the same gorgeous guy for the past couple of weeks."

"Lunch dates?" Jax shot his mom a look that had "lame" written all over it.

"Well, not just lunch dates. She spends every evening with him too." Gemma had to try as hard as she could not to smirk at the horrified look on her son's face. If he only knew the truth.

Sophie had been spending time with a guy and he didn't know anything about it? His mother was right, Jax had to work very hard to ignore Sophie. The truth was that the more attention he paid to her, the harder it was to keep his hands off her.

* * *

"Yeah?" Sophie answered her phone after returning to the garage from lunch.

"Where are you?" Unser asked.

"Teller-Morrow. Why?" Sophie replied.

"O'Malley's parents just posted bail." Unser said. Sophie whipped around and looked across the parking lot at Jax who was smoking at the picnic table. He immediately caught her look and started towards her. He could tell even from this distance that she was scared.

"Shit," Sophie huffed. "What do I do?"

"There's a restraining order in place." Unser said.

"Fat lot of good that's gonna fucking do." Sophie groused.

"That was my professional answer. My unprofessional answer is keep one of the guys close at all times. Let them gut the bastard if he gets close to you." Unser said.

Jax placed on a hand on her shoulder, his eyes boring into hers.

"Yeah, okay. I'll get Juice or Happy on it." Sophie sighed before ending the phone call. "You know where Hap is?"

"No clue." Jax shrugged. "What's up?"

"Pete's parents just posted his bail." Sophie said running a hand through her hair.

"Guess that means you're going to have to call off your date tonight." Jax said trying not to grin.

"What are you talking about?" Sophie asked getting angry.

"My mom told me all about your lunch and evening dates. Poor guy is just gonna have to deal with not seeing you." Jax said.

"Oh, I just bet she told you _all_ about it." Sophie rolled her eyes knowing that Gemma had left a big part of the story out and mostly likely had done it on purpose. "But, I'm not really worried about that right now. I'm more worried about the psycho who tried to kill me."

"I'll follow you home, stay with you." Jax offered.

"No need to put a damper on your sex life too." Sophie said not knowing what had come over her. She didn't have a sex life...but maybe Jax didn't need to know that. "I'll call Happy and have him stay with me. If he can't, I'll have Juice do it."

"Soph-" Jax started.

"It's fine, Jax. You don't need to have Tara think you're screwing around on her with your ex." Sophie cut in.

"Yeah," Jax said. Truth was that Tara had brought up Sophie and Juice's previous relationship. Jax didn't do a thing to correct Tara's assumption that Sophie had been with Juice. "I just want to be there if he tries anything. I want to be sure you're safe."

"I'll be fine, Jax." Sophie smiled softly. "You can't sacrifice your relationship out of some messed up obligation you think you owe me. We had a great time together ten years ago." Sophie shrugged. "But we've both moved on. You don't owe me anything. I'll be fine."

"Okay." Jax agreed.

* * *

"Hey, Soph," Gemma smiled as she walked up to Sophie at the end of the day.

"Hey, Gem." Sophie stretched her tired muscles.

"Don't hate me but I set you up on a blind date tonight." Gemma said. Sophie glared at her. "I know, I know but I'm friends with this guy. He's an accountant with one of our parts suppliers. He's really nice and very funny. He's going to meet you at the diner at 8."

"Gemma," Sophie huffed, rubbing her forehead. Oh what the hell, she figured. "Fine. But I'm not going to like it."

"Thanks, baby girl. I have a feeling you're going to love it." Gemma smirked. If Jax wouldn't wake up, then Gemma was going to have to give him a shove by making him see Sophie with another man.

"Sophie!" Jax called as Sophie walked to her car. She waited until he jogged up to her. "You get a hold of Happy?"

"No," Sophie shook her head. "Looks like Juice is babysitting."

"You sure?" Jax asked. "I don't mind."

"Nah, Juice and I will just watch some movies and act like silly school girls. It'll be fine." Sophie smiled.

"Kay. Have a good night." Jax said. He didn't want her to know how sad he was that she had found somebody to stay with her. He wanted to be the one to protect her.

"You too." Sophie said. She wanted to add "Have fun diddling the doctor." but knew that it was pointless. Instead she flipped open her phone and dialed a number.

"Yeah," Juice answered.

"I need you to cover for me tonight." Sophie said.

"What do you mean?" Juice asked.

"I need you to stay home tonight and if anybody asks tell them you're staying with me." Sophie said. "Please?"

Juice sighed loudly. "Do I even want to know why I'm doing this?"

"Because you love me?" Sophie replied.

"Yeah, even though you're a pain in my ass." Juice laughed.

"I know but you owe me." Sophie reminded him.

"You're right. I'll let them know." Juice said.

"Thanks." Sophie smiled before ending the phone call. She knew it was stupid not to have let Juice know that Pete had made bail and that she was going to be on a date but it wasn't the Club's problem. And, she knew if anything happened to Pete, it would land at the Club's feet and they didn't need cops poking around.

* * *

It was around 10 pm when Sophie and her date, Dave, pulled into her driveway. It had been a horrible time for Sophie. All Dave had talked about was accounting things that Sophie knew nothing about. She was tired and cranky. She'd had to cut her usual evening activity short to get ready for the date. What Sophie didn't know was that an angry pair of eyes had been watching her all night.

Sophie walked up to her front door and turned to Dave. "Thank you for a wonderful evening." She didn't hear the footsteps approaching.

"When can I see you again?" Dave asked her, his eyes pleading. He'd never been out with such a beautiful woman before.

_Another date couldn't hurt, could it? Maybe it'll be better, _Sophie thought. "Call me and we can set up a time."

"Okay!" Dave said. He reminded Sophie of an excited puppy and that made her sad. She knew Dave wasn't for her. Sophie was still unaware of the man standing near them, watching. Dave surprised Sophie by leaning forward and moving his lips over hers.

_This isn't so bad._ Sophie thought. She missed being kissed. Dave wasn't a bad kisser, either. If she decided to do this, maybe she could pretend he was Jax. Then her mind started screaming at her for even thinking such a thing. Dave deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into her mouth. After a few minutes, he pulled away, breathless. Sophie felt bad that she wasn't the least turned on.

"Let's go inside." Dave whispered harshly.

"No," Sophie replied. "My house is a mess." It was a lie but she didn't know how else to let him down without telling him that she didn't want him.

"Come on, Soph." Dave said gripping her hips. "Let me in."

"Didn't you hear her the first time dipshit? She said no!" Sophie jumped and her eyes locked onto the man standing in her yard, seething with anger.

"Jax!" Sophie said surprised. She wiped a quick hand down her mouth, almost as if she could erase the kiss that Jax had surely witnessed.

"Look, pal, I'm talking to the lady." Dave snarked. Sophie grimaced.

"The lady said no." Jax growled.

"Dave, you should probably go." Sophie said.

"Just let me inside. Just for a few minutes." Dave pleaded.

"She said no." Jax said. Sophie could tell Jax was quickly losing his patience. His shoulders were squared and his hands were clenched into fists at his side.

"I'm asking _her._" Dave barked.

"No, Dave." Sophie said. "It's not a good idea."

"Please," Dave pleaded. "We could be so good together."

"She's mine." Jax snarledk.

"Please," Dave repeated. He went to touch her arm. With Sophie's past she instinctively flinched away. In a flash Jax had Dave down the stairs, Dave's shirt fisted in Jax's hands.

"A woman, especially this one, shouldn't have tell you no more than once. Get out of here before I put you in a coma." Jax ground out. "And if you're smart, you will forget about ever calling her."

Dave nodded and quickly left. Sophie unlocked the door and let Jax inside.

Jax took in the small house. It was open concept, a dining room on the left, living room on the right in a big space. The kitchen was behind the dining room, separated by a high bar with stools at it. Two doors down a tiny hall must be the bedroom and bathroom he figured. The house was nicely decorated. It was all Sophie.

"Where'd you find that schmuck?" Jax asked. Sophie steeled herself for the coming argument.

"Your mom set up the date." Sophie shrugged.

"Where the fuck is Juice?" Jax demanded. Sophie leaned back against the bar, her arms crossed in front of her. She bit the inside of her lip, not meeting Jax's eyes.

"I didn't tell him." She said quietly, her voice almost a whisper.

"Jesus Christ, Sophie! What if Pete had been here?" Jax yelled.

"I'm not going to live on what ifs." Sophie said. Jax's assertion she was his still rang in her ears.

"He could have picked you up anywhere between the shop, the hospital, and the diner." Jax walked up until he was in her face.

"How do you know about the hospital?" Sophie asked surprised.

"I've been following you all night." Jax said. Sophie could feel the anger rolling off him in waves.

"Why?" She asked calmly.

"Because I knew you'd do something like this." Jax replied. "This isn't something to play around with Sophie. You're in real danger here!"

"It's not your problem, Jax!" Sophie shoved him and stepped forward so she was in his face now. "You should be off with Tara."

"You mad I'm with Tara?" Jax asked angrily.

"I don't give a shit." Sophie seethed at him. "But you can't come here," she shoved him again, "and tell a guy that I'm dating that I'm yours! I'm not yours, Jackson! I'm nobody's!"

"You deserve so much better than that guy." Jax said evenly.

"Your mom set up the date! I just went so I wouldn't have to listen to her bitch at me!" Sophie threw her hands up in frustration.

"Didn't even look like he knew how to kiss a woman properly." Jax's voice was low now.

"Not like the great Jackson Teller?" Sophie quirked an eyebrow.

"Exactly." Jax smirked.

"Well, get that idea right out of your head." Sophie snarked. "You don't get to kiss me. You have a girlfriend."

"I don't have a girlfriend!" Jax shouted, not knowing why he was getting angry again. "I have a-I don't know what I have."

"You still don't get to kiss me!" Sophie shouted back, shoving him again.

Jax shoved her back. Sophie looked at him in shock. "You son of a bi-" Her words were cut off as Jax pulled her to him and crushed his lips to hers.


	7. Chapter 7

"Jax, wait." Sophie said gently pushing him away.

In that moment, looking into her eyes, Jax felt like an idiot. He should have known that she wouldn't go along with this. Sophie would never be the other woman and Jax felt like an ass for putting her in that position.

"I'm going to go change." She said quietly. Jax nodded and sat on the couch, running a hand through his hair.

Sophie walked into the bedroom and stopped short. "Jax." It came out a whisper. "Jax." She said a little louder. "Jax!"

Jax stopped next to her. She was shaking. There were clothes laid out on her bed. "He was here." She whispered as tears filled her eyes. Jax quickly pulled a gun from his shoulder holsters.

"Call Unser." He ordered. Sophie pulled her phone out and dialed. Jax carefully went through the house to make sure Pete wasn't still lurking somewhere. Sophie came into the living room worrying her thumbnail in between her teeth. "We get the locks changed tomorrow." Jax said. Sophie jumped a little when Jax's cell phone rang. He huffed and answered it. "Hey," He said. "No, not tonight...I can't, Tara. I've got something I need to take care of...Look, we'll talk tomorrow." Jax flipped his phone closed.

* * *

"Sam!" Tara exclaimed in surprise when she opened her door.

"I should have looked here first." Sam smiled sweetly at her. He cupped her face in his hand. "I've missed you, Tara. It seems like forever since I've seen your face or heard your voice."

"I know." Tara looked at her hands and then back up at him. "I shouldn't have left the way I did."

"And I should have known that you'd run. That night was messed up and it was a lot for you to handle. I should have done more to make it easier for you." Sam sighed.

"I just...I didn't know how to look at you without seeing him." Tara said, tears shining in her eyes.

"I can understand that. I just wish you'd talked to me instead of packing your stuff and leaving." Sam said.

"Come in." Tara said moving away from the door so he could enter her father's home.

"So, this is Charming?" Sam asked, giving her a small smile.

"Yeah," Tara nodded, smiling. "This is where I grew up."

"I'm glad I got to see it...I just wish it was under better circumstances." Sam said sitting down on the couch.

"I just have this habit of running when things get too complicated." Tara said quietly.

"I know. You told me." Sam replied. "It hurts that you came back to him, though. I thought...I had _hoped_ that I was more to you than that."

"You are, Sam. God, you are so much more to me than just a holding place for Jax Teller. I came back because Charming is familiar. It's safe. _He's_ safe." Tara shook her head. "It was stupid. I'm so sorry, Sam. I never should have broken up with you."

"Tara, you did what you had to do." Sam said. "I, um, put in a transfer."

"Where?" Tara asked, her blood running cold. She couldn't lose him. He'd done so much for her.

"Charming." Sam smiled. "I figured it would be best to come to you. Show you how much I love you and was willing to do to get you back."

"You don't have to do anything, Sam!" Tara said as tears slid down her cheeks. "You killed your partner for me."

"Joshua Kohn was a crooked son of a bitch who beat you and tried to rape you when you broke up with him. He deserved to die." Sam said angrily.

"I love you, Sam. I love you so much. I've missed you. I want you back...forever." Tara said pressing her lips to his. Sam pushed her back onto the couch, glad that he had Tara back in his life.

* * *

"So, he broke in to lay clothes out on your bed?" Hale asked Sophie.

"He used to lay the clothes he wanted me to wear the next day out for me every night." Sophie said quietly. "I had to wear whatever he put out on the bed. If I made any changes like adding something there was hell to pay."

"I talked to his mother." Hale said. "She's aware that as a provision of his release he is not to be out of her sight. She's taking him back to Modesto with her tomorrow."

"That's it?" Jax huffed.

"There's nothing we can do." Hale ran a hand over his face. "There's no proof that Pete did this. There's no forced entry, no broken windows."

"No, it's okay." Sophie smiled weakly. "I completely understand."

"Look," Hale said, "I can authorize an extra patrol of the neighborhood. That's the best I can do."

"No thanks, _Deputy._" Jax snarled. "If this asshole comes near Sophie again, he's dead."

"_If_ Pete breaks into the house again, you are well within your right to protect yourself." Hale told Jax.

"Thank you." Sophie said politely as Hale left her place.

"This is bullshit. They should arrest him." Jax huffed.

"Settle down." Sophie said. She pushed him back onto the couch. She clicked the tv on and sat next to him. "I'll have Juice come over."

"No." Jax said sternly. "I'm staying here tonight." He caught Sophie's look. "I'm not looking to get lucky. I just want to make sure you're okay. I'll sleep on the couch."

Sophie nodded. "Thanks."

Jax put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. He pressed a kiss to hair. He was going to have to have a talk with Tara when he saw her tomorrow. Jax couldn't believe he'd stupidly thought that getting back with Tara would help him stop thinking about Sophie. He loved Sophie. He needed Sophie.

* * *

Pete O'Malley angrily watched Deputy Chief Hale pull out of Sophie's driveway. It angered him to no end that she had called the police. She knew better than that. It also made his blood boil that Jax Teller's bike was outside her house. She was going to pay for this. He'd make sure of it.


	8. Chapter 8

"How'd your date go last night?" Gemma asked Sophie the next morning.

Sophie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "It was horrible! All Dave wanted to talk about was his job. Then, when we got to my door, he kissed me and it was okay at first. But then he wanted to come inside and I said no. He almost started begging."

"Wow. I thought it would be a lot different than that." Gemma replied.

"He asked, like, five times to come inside." Sophie shook her head.

"How'd you finally get rid of him?" Gemma asked.

"Your son showed up and said I was his." Sophie huffed.

"Jax said you were his? What about Tara?" Gemma asked shocked.

"I have no clue." Sophie said. "We didn't really talk about it. He was pretty pissed at me that I lied about having Juice stay with me."

"Ya think?" Gemma asked. "Pete's out there thinking he owns you. Jax isn't going to let that go."

"Well, Jax doesn't have to worry about it. I talked to Herman this morning. He and Happy are coming from Bakersfield." Sophie replied.

"Yeah, like that's gonna stop Jax. Speaking of my son, where is he?" Gemma asked.

Sophie shrugged. "Not my day to babysit him."

* * *

Jax knocked on Tara's door. He wanted to get this done and since Tara was an early riser, he didn't even think about arriving a little after 8 in the morning. He was no prepared for who answered the door.

"Yeah?" A man in just jeans asked a few minutes later after opening the door. His short brown hair was rumpled and his eyes suggested that Jax had woken him up.

"I'm looking for Tara." Jax said.

"Baby!" The man yelled into the house. "Door!"

Jax was surprised at his lack of reaction to a strange man answering Tara's door. He should be angry, he should be beating the guy into the ground. But Jax felt relief. This freed him up to pursue his ultimate goal of getting Sophie back.

"Jax!" Tara said. Her hair was in a low ponytail, her eyes bleary from sleep. She pulled her bathrobe tightly around him. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you." Jax said. "You wanna tell me who answered your door?"

"That's Sam." Tara said stepping out onto the front step and closing the door. "We were...he's my...we're engaged."

"You're engaged?" Jax asked shocked.

"Well, we put it on hold until I talked to you." Tara said, not sure how Jax was going to react to her news. "Sam showed up here last night after I got off the phone with you."

"He follow you from Chicago?" Jax asked.

Tara nodded. "I'm sorry, Jax. I should have told you."

"Honestly, I was coming over here to break up with you." Jax let out a small laugh.

"What? Why?" Tara asked.

"I want to be with Sophie." Jax replied.

"What about Juice?" Tara asked.

"I have no interest in Juice." Jax answered with confusion.

"No, I mean, isn't Sophie his ex-old lady?" Tara asked.

"I should have told you about Sophie awhile ago. We almost got married about ten years ago. Wendy was dating Kyle Hobart and they wanted Sophie and I to break up so they pulled some shit. The day of the wedding, Sophie and I broke up." Jax explained.

"I should have told you about Sam." Tara confessed. "He was an FBI agent in Chicago. I met him and his partner when they came to talk to me about a case I was working on. I started dating his partner, Josh Kohn until things got violent. I had to get a restraining order against him."

"Jesus," Jax whispered.

"Sam had to help me get it because nobody wanted to believe me." Tara sighed. "One night, Josh broke into my house and tried to rape me. I ended up shooting him in the stomach and calling Sam for help. Josh said some horrible things to me and Sam shot him in the head."

Jax let out a whistle. "So, how'd you end up back here?"

"After Sam got rid of the body, we just sort of started seeing each other. We were together until I came back to Charming." Tara said sadly.

"Why'd you run?" Jax asked.

"He proposed. After everything that had happened...I panicked." Tara explained.

"You have a habit of doing that. But, a man who commits capital murder for you is one you probably want to hang onto." Jax grinned.

"I'm sorry, Jax. I should have told you the truth." Tara said.

"We fell back into old patterns. It happens." Jax shrugged. "See ya around, Doc."

"Yeah." Tara gave a small wave as Jax walked away.

* * *

"Where the hell have you been?" Gemma demanded when Jax pulled into the parking lot around noon.

"I had some shit to take care of." Jax replied. After talking to Tara, he'd gone home and spent a couple of hours putting the last of the nursery together. "Where's Soph?"

"Her usual lunch date." Gemma grinned.

"Don't play games with me, Ma. That asshole broke into her place last night. I need to know where she is." Jax replied.

"Shit," Gemma huffed. "She went to St. Thomas."

Jax jumped on his bike and sped off. He jogged through the halls until he reached the NICU. He didn't even think about it, he just knew that that's where she'd be.

"She left early." Tara told him when she saw him.

"Did she say why?" Jax asked.

"She was with some guy." Tara shrugged.

"Thanks," Jax huffed. "How's Abel?"

"He's great." Tara smiled.

"I'll be back later to see him." Jax said before stalking off towards his bike.

* * *

Pete shoved Sophie onto the couch. "You aren't wearing the clothes I put out for you."

"I didn't know I'd be seeing you today." Sophie said as fear washed over her.

Pete slapped her across the face. "You are smarter than that, Sophie! You know the rules!"

"I'm sorry," She whimpered trying to fight off tears. Crying wouldn't help her now.

"I think you like to be punished, Sophie." Pete said sadly. "I think you like it when I hit you."

"No, Pete, I don't." She said, holding her hands out in front of her.

"Then why don't you do as your told?" Pete yelled.

"You're right, I know better." Sophie said. "I thought you were going to Modesto with your mom so I didn't know I should wear your outfit."

Pete backhanded her. "That's because you talked to the cops last night and they told you what my mom wanted them to hear."

"Please, Pete," Sophie begged, "You need to leave before somebody comes looking for me."

Pete grabbed her around the throat. "It'll be too late. I told you, Sophie, until death do us part."

The sound of a motorcycle coming into the driveway drew Pete's attention. He went to the window and grimaced.

"What are you smiling about?" Pete demanded.

"Jax is going to kill you." Sophie smirked.

Pete hauled her up off the couch and slapped her again. She heard Jax's feet hit the front stairs. "Jax!" She screamed. Jax burst through the door, gun already drawn. Sophie tried running towards him but Pete grabbed her by the hair and hauled her against him, pinning him to her as a human shield.

"You come to watch her die?" Pete smiled.

"No," Jax ground out. "I came to put a bullet between your eyes."

"You wouldn't. Not with her in the way." Pete pointed out. Jax hated to admit that Pete was right. Jax could never take a shot when there was a possibility that he could hurt Sophie. "Now, we're gonna go and you're going to stay here."

"You're not getting out of here with her." Jax said, his eyes locking on Sophie's. He silently promised her that she would be okay. He could tell that she not only understood him but believed him.

"Oh yes I am." Pete said. Sophie suddenly dropped her head and Pete cried out in pain. It took Jax a second to realize that Sophie was biting Pete's forearm. Pete violently shoved Sophie into Jax, sending them both to the floor. He took off running out the door in the kitchen that led to the carport.

"You okay?" Jax whispered, his arms hugging her tightly.

"How did you know?" She asked.

"I went to St. Thomas. Tara said you'd left early with some guy." Jax explained.

"Oh, God, Jax," Sophie said as tears fell down her cheeks.

"It's okay. You're okay." Jax stroked her hair and shifted so he could sit up.

"I'm so sorry. I should have listened." She said.

Jax pulled her away from him and locked his eyes with hers, his hand cupping her face. "I'm glad you learned your lesson, babe, but next time just take my word for it, okay?"

Sophie let out a small laugh and nodded.

"I'm so glad you're safe." Jax said, kissing her lovingly. He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers.

"I wouldn't be if it weren't for you." Sophie said, her fingers playing with the hair on the back of his head.

"I'm your knight in shining armor, darlin." Jax laughed.

"What do we do about Pete?" Sophie asked.

"Until I can put that fucker in the ground, you're stuck with me." Jax promised.

"Okay," Sophie replied.

The sound of more motorcycles pulling into her driveway broke them apart. Jax helped Sophie to her feet and they went to greet the new arrivals.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: School is once again upon us. Homework comes first, which I know you can all understand. I'll be updating this story as often as possible between updating my other story.**

"Everything okay here?" Happy asked when he walked into the house. Juice and Kozik trailed in behind him.

"Yeah." Sophie nodded. "It is now."

"What happened?" Kozik asked.

"Pete came to the hospital and brought me back here." Sophie sighed.

"Are you okay?" Happy demanded.

"Yeah, thanks to Jax." Sophie replied.

"Where's the body?" Happy asked.

Jax shook his head. "He used Sophie as a shield; I couldn't get a shot off."

"And?" Happy asked.

"He shoved her into me and ran for it." Jax answered. "He's still out there."

"Fuck," Kozik sighed. "What's the plan?"

"I sit my happy ass out in the driveway and wait for him to show up again." Everybody stopped and slowly turned to look at Happy. "What?" he shrugged. "That's my plan."

"That's a...nice plan," Sophie said, "but I don't think he's coming back." Everybody turned to look at her this time.

"He said until death do you part. He wants to kill you." Jax said.

"I'll just borrow a gun from your mom." Sophie shrugged. "I can take care of myself."

"No!" The men said in unison.

"That's all I need is for you to shoot yourself in the Goddamn foot." Kozik huffed, running a hand over his face.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Sophie glared at her brother.

"Soph, not even five minutes ago you said you realized that this was serious." Jax huffed, putting his hands on his hips.

"Is it so bad that I want my house to myself?" Sophie asked.

"Yes!" The men answered her.

"Especially when somebody is trying to kill you." Juice added.

"Okay, _one_ of you can stay." Sophie sighed.

The men looked at each other.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Sophie huffed. "Happy, you just said a minute ago that you were going to sit in my driveway."

"Yeah, um, I totally will but I was hoping to start tomorrow...probably tomorrow night. It's fight night at the Clubhouse." Happy said.

"Luann's bringing her best girls." Juice shrugged.

"So, you'd rather get laid than protect me?" Sophie asked.

"Um...yeah." Kozik scoffed.

"I'll stay." Jax smirked and shook his head.

* * *

"You know they would have stayed, right?" Jax asked once Sophie's house was empty of their company.

"Yeah. I think Herman wanted you to stay though because he wants us to get back together." Sophie shrugged.

"That what you want?" Jax asked.

"What I want right now is just some normal. I want to be able to come and go normally. I want to be in my house without being worried like a normal person." Sophie sighed.

"It's not gonna be too long until that happens, babe." Jax said.

"Shit!" Sophie cried. "I'm late!" Time had passed a lot quicker than she had thought.

"Late for what?" Jax asked, confused.

"We need to get to St. Thomas." Sophie said.

"Okay," Jax shrugged. He took the keys to her truck and drove them to the hospital. "Hey, slow down." Jax laughed as Sophie rushed through the halls.

"I am so sorry." Sophie said apologetically to a nurse.

"Thank God you're here." The nurse sighed.

Jax had no idea what was going on. They were at the NICU and he could hear Abel crying. Sophie rushed into the room and placed her hand on the incubator.

"I'm sorry I'm late, little guy." Sophie said softly. Jax was astonished when Abel immediately stopped crying and writhing around. Sophie looked up at Jax. "I probably should have told you that I come to see him twice a day."

"No, it's fine." Jax was still in shock. He couldn't believe the way Abel reacted to Sophie's voice.

Sophie pulled a rocking chair up to the incubator. Jax followed her lead and pulled up a chair of his own. "Had kind of a bad day today, kid." She said. "I wish I hadn't had to split earlier like that. The dude that came in wasn't nice. But your daddy came and saved me. Your lucky to have a daddy that's willing protect the people he cares about."

Jax smirked. "You always talk about your day?"

"Sometimes." She shrugged. "Sometimes, we talk about what we're going to do when he gets busted outta this joint."

Jax sat back and listened to the sound of Sophie's voice as she continued to speak softly to Abel.

* * *

"You should probably get some sleep. Been a long day." Jax ran his hand through Sophie's hair when they walked through her door an hour later.

"Yeah." Sophie said softly. "Thanks, Jax."

He leaned in and brushed his lips softly against hers. "I'll be on the couch if you need me."

"I'll grab you a pillow and blanket." Sophie grinned. She returned with the bedding for Jax.

"Thanks." He smiled at her.

"Kinda weird to be staying under the same roof again." Sophie said.

"Nah," Jax shook his head, growing serious. "Feels right."

"Yeah, next you're going to say that it would feel right if you were in my bed." Sophie giggled.

"I'm not going to lie. If you invited me into your bed right now, I wouldn't say no. But I also know that you need time to process the shit Pete put you through; get the voices in your head back in order." Jax said.

"You're right. The voices are all fucked up." Sophie sat next to him on the couch. "They're telling me I deserved it all. I shouldn't have provoked him."

Jax cupped her face in his hand. "And you know that's bullshit. You did nothing wrong."

Sophie nodded. "I have you to keep reminding me of that."

"Damn right you do." Jax replied. "You deserve so much better than that asshole."

"Oh yeah?" Sophie smiled softly. "What exactly do I deserve?"

"Me." He said firmly before kissing her.

Sophie let herself get lost in his kiss and in the old feelings that were dredged up when their lips were locked together. It took everything Jax had to break the kiss.

"You should get some sleep." He whispered, his voice husky with lust.

"Do you mind if I stay out here and watch some tv?" She asked. She was a little mindwhacked from that kiss and didn't think she'd be able to fall asleep.

"Your house, darlin." Jax smirked. "Do what you want."

"I just didn't know if you wanted to go to sleep." She replied.

"You know me, I don't go to sleep for another couple of hours." He grinned.

"Some things never change." She smiled as she flipped the tv on. She scooted closer to Jax and relaxed when he wrapped an arm around her shoulder to pull her against his side.

* * *

Stupid bitch was cuddling with another man. Pete was livid when he peeked through the door to the kitchen and saw Sophie snuggled up to that bastard, Jax Teller. Pete was going to have to put an end to this. She was _his_and since she didn't want to be with him anymore, she wasn't going to be with anybody.


	10. Chapter 10

He stood in her bedroom, looking through her dresser drawers. He knew this was stupid, that he shouldn't be here. She could come home with that mongrel biker that spent the night last night. It gave Pete some satisfaction to see the pillow and blanket on the couch. It meant that Sophie had some sense left and hadn't let that cretin into her bed. Pete had watched her bantering with the lowly bikers that she worked with. He'd followed her to the hospital. It confounded him as to why she'd want to go there twice a day to see some bastard child. It wasn't their baby; the baby they'd never have now that she was shaking up with Blondey the Biker Buttwad. It just made Pete so angry that she would have him arrested, move out, and let Jax back into her life. She deserved so much better than him. She deserved Pete. And if he couldn't have her, nobody would.

* * *

Sophie laughed at something stupid Jax said as she walked through her front door. She wanted to take a shower and get cleaned up before she went to see Abel. She stopped in the bathroom by the dirty clothes hamper. One of her brighter thongs was on top of the pile. She knew that she'd worn it earlier in the week so it should have been farther down in the hamper.

"You okay?" Jax asked.

"I think I'm going crazy." She shook her head. "Or becoming paranoid."

"Why?" Jax asked.

"It's stupid." She replied.

"Soph." He said firmly.

She sighed. "The thong that's on top of the pile." She pointed to the hamper. "It shouldn't be there."

"Your underwear shouldn't be in the hamper?"

"No...I mean, yes. It should be in the hamper but not on top. See? It sounds stupid." Sophie said.

"No, it sounds creepy as fuck." Jax huffed.

"I must be loosing my mind." Sophie shook her head and walked into her bedroom. The smell of her perfume hit her nostrils. It was on her dresser...where it didn't belong. "Jax," She called.

"Yeah, babe?" He replied, coming into the room.

"He was here." She said, trying to fight back tears.

"Fuck." Jax huffed, placing a hand on the back of her neck.

"Should I call Unser?" She asked.

Jax shook his head. "Nothin they can do. They'll maybe put extra patrol on your house but that's it."

"What do I do, Jax? I can't keep living like this. I barely slept last night; every noise made me think it was him." She was losing control and she hated it.

"First, babe, _nothing _is going to happen to you. While you go visit Abel, I'm going to change the locks and get Happy over here. I'll sleep in here with you and he can sleep in the living room." Jax said.

"Jax-" she started to protest.

Jax held up his hand to silence her. "No arguments. It's not about sex. It's about you feeling safe enough to sleep. Second, a prospect is going to be here doing the day so that if he does come back, somebody is here to detain him."

"Detain?" Sophie asked.

"You don't think I'm going to let a prospect have the fun of killing this guy?" Jax teased her.

"Of course not." Sophie rolled her eyes.

"This all will be over before you know it." He said, cupping her face in his hands.

She nodded. "Okay."

Jax pulled her face to his. His kiss was urgent, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth. Sophie moaned and tangled her hands in his hair. It felt so good to be kissing him again. It just felt right and Sophie realized how much she'd really missed him all of these years. Somebody behind them cleared their throat and they jumped apart.

"Hey, Hap." Jax said, a slight blush creeping across his cheeks.

Happy just shook his head.

* * *

"Excuse me," an unfamiliar nurse said to Sophie as she walked towards the NICU. "That's for family only."

"Um," Sophie started, not sure what to say. She had to see Abel, he'd be getting fussy soon if she didn't show up. Sophie saw Tara roll her eyes from behind the nurse.

"That's Jax's wife." Tara said.

"Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry." The nurse sputtered.

"It's okay." Sophie said. Tara gave her a small smile. Sophie gave Tara an appreciative smile back. Jax had said that his break-up with Tara was mutual but Tara still could have raised a stink if she'd wanted to. She didn't have to lie to the nurse for Sophie.

Sophie talked quietly to Abel for forty-five minutes, trying to give Jax and Happy enough time to change the locks in her house. And, she was trying to avoid Happy a little bit. She was embarrassed that he'd caught her making out with Jax.

"Mrs. Teller?" The nurse said softly. Sophie looked up from the incubator. "Sorry to bother you but Abel's mother is here to see him. There's a note in the file to ask permission for her to come see him."

Sophie looked out the door shocked to see Wendy Case standing there with an eyebrow quirked at her. Obviously Wendy wasn't happy to hear that Jax was "married."

"Um," Sophie couldn't think fast enough. What should she do? Should she let Wendy in? Did Jax want Wendy to see Abel? "I should probably call my husband and ask him."

"I don't think that will be necessary," said a male voice, coming into view. Sophie gasped. "I think _Mrs. Teller_ should be able to make the decision."

Pete was grinning at her maniacally, Wendy's hand clasped in his.


	11. Chapter 11

"You're right." Sophie smiled at Pete. "I can make the decision without Jax. These two do not get in to see Abel."

Wendy blanched and Pete glowered at her. Sophie was beyond caring if she made Pete angry. She wasn't going to leave the hospital until somebody could come escort her back to her house. She wasn't going to give Pete an opening to hurt her. Sophie closed the door to the NICU and flipped open her phone.

"Yeah," Jax answered.

"Jax," Sophie sighed.

"Everything okay?" He asked. Her voice sounded stressed.

"No." She replied. "Wendy showed up at the hospital."

"Shit," Jax huffed. "She's supposed to be in a residential treatment center."

"That's not the worst part." Sophie replied. "Pete was with her."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jax cried.

"No." Sophie said.

"Is he still there?" Jax demanded.

"I don't know. I told the nurse that they weren't allowed to visit Abel and they left pediatrics. I don't know if they're waiting for me to leave or..." She trailed off. She took a deep breath. "I just don't know if it's a good idea to leave."

"Shit. I'll be right there." Jax said.

* * *

"Excuse me," a nurse said to Jax as he neared NICU. "Family only."

Jax stopped short and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's my kid in there."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Teller." The nurse said, surprised. "Your wife is already in there."

"...Of course she is." Jax said after his brain kicked back in. His wife? Was Wendy in there after he'd specifically told the hospital that she needed permission to be in Abel's room? The nurse had nerve letting Wendy into the room and then questioning him when he'd been there every day to see his son. Jax cracked the door open, ready to start yelling. He stopped short, his mind taking a second to recognize the woman standing at the incubator.

"You okay?" Sophie asked, catching the confused look on his face.

"Yeah. It's just they said my wife was in here so I expected to see Wendy." He explained.

"No. I told them she couldn't see him tonight. If she comes back, they'll call you." Sophie replied.

"I dunno. That nurse wasn't going to let me in." Jax grinned.

"Yeah, same here. Tara said I was your wife so I could get passed her." Sophie said.

"Oh, wow...okay. That explains why she said my wife was in here."

"Well, technically only family is supposed to be in here. I guess the new nurse doesn't know the rules where SAMCRO is concerned." Sophie chuckled.

"She'll learn soon enough. We're gonna be regulars for awhile."

"Yeah, but he's getting stronger. Hopefully, he'll bust out of the incubator soon." Sophie sighed.

"Shouldn't need toasting too much longer." Jax replied.

"Would you stop calling it a toaster? Your son is not bread." Sophie giggled.

"Nah, darlin, it'll always be the toaster." Jax grinned.

"You're horrible." She laughed.

"But you love me anyway." He said it in a joking manner.

"Yes, I do." She said seriously.

"Soph, you don't-" Jax started but she cut him off.

"I know I don't have to say it. It's just, with this whole Pete thing, I realized a lot. I mean, I've had other relationships, been in love with other guys." She saw Jax flinch at that admission from her. "But, I've never really loved anybody the way I love you."

"You know I married Wendy because I sick of the endless disconnect. I didn't love her." Jax said, placing his hands in his back pockets.

"But you got a pretty great kid out of it." Sophie smiled.

"Yeah, I did." Jax agreed. "Let's get back to your house. Hopefully Pete will try to show up so that Happy can take care of it."

"I agree that we should go back to my place. I don't share your hopes about Pete showing up though." Sophie said taking the hand Jax held out to her.

* * *

"Jax, we should stop," Sophie panted. She was trapped under Jax on the couch. While watching tv, they'd gotten into a tickle fight which led to a hot and heavy make out session.

"Why?" He husked, sucking at the skin on her neck.

"Happy's right out side." She whispered, trying not to get lost in the sensations Jax was awakening inside her.

"You're just going to have to be quiet then, darlin." Jax smirked against her lips. He didn't care what Happy heard. Jax wanted Sophie and he wanted her now. It had been 10 long years since he was able to kiss her, touch her, or taste her.

"I don't know if I can do that." She giggled as she hooked one leg around his thigh.

"You never were good at being quiet." Jax laughed.

"Jax!" Happy's growl cut through the door. "We got company."

"Shit." Jax huffed, rubbing a hand down his face. "We're going to finish this."

"I have no doubt." Sophie giggled.

"Stay here, lock the door after I go out." Jax ordered.

"Okay," She nodded. She was worried about who was outside. Part of her hoped it was Pete so they could get this bullshit over with.

* * *

"What's up, brother?" Jax asked Happy once he was sure Sophie had locked the door.

"Blacked out car half way down the block. He's been sittin' there for twenty minutes." Happy said.

"Shit. Okay." Jax said. He took out his knife and walked towards the car. The person inside rolled down the window. "What are you doing?" Jax asked the unfamiliar teen behind the wheel.

"W-waitin' for my girlfriend, man. She's supposed to be here any minute." The boy stammered obviously afraid of the biker.

"A'ight." Jax smirked. He remember the times having to wait for Tara to sneak out of the house. "Just checkin. Gotta keep my old lady safe, ya know?"

"Sure man." The kid nodded.

* * *

Happy held his arms out in a "Well?" gesture.

"Just some kid waitin for his girl to sneak out." Jax lit a cigarette.

"Fuck." Happy snarked.

"If he doesn't show up tonight, I'm expediting the end game." Jax said. "I'm sick of waiting for this asshole. Showing up at the hospital was just playin games with Sophie. And using my kid to play the game is against the rules."

"What do you have in mind?" Happy asked.

"I'll have Juice put a trace on his phone. Then, we go to him." Jax said.

"Fuck yeah." Happy said grinning.


	12. Chapter 12

Jax huffed out a sigh as he stretched and lit a cigarette. He looked around the garage, his eyes easily finding their target. Sophie was laughing with some of the guys as she worked on a car that had seen much better days. Jax figured only he and Juice knew that things for Sophie were far from jovial. Of course, she'd never show it. It had been a week since Juice had put the trace on Pete's phone and there hadn't been so much as a blip on the radar. Jax spent every night at Sophie's, making sure that Pete didn't show up. Sophie had run Happy back to Tacoma only on the promise that she would call him immediately if anything happened. Jax didn't know what Sophie had said to the Tacoma Killer to get him to leave town and neither he nor Sophie would say.

It didn't really matter to Jax what Sophie had said to get Happy out of Charming. All he knew was that without Happy standing guard outside of Sophie's house, Jax could make his move to consummate his relationship with Sophie. He would have liked to have made the move sooner but he totally understood Sophie's hesitation. It didn't feel right to be having sex in the house while Happy was outside, busy making sure Sophie was safe. It also made Jax and Sophie vulnerable to a surprise attack if they got too lost in each other. Pete wouldn't have gotten far if he'd tried to get in a side window on the opposite side of the house from Happy but Pete could have gotten far enough to hurt Sophie if Jax wasn't on point. Jax would be damned if he let her get hurt because he wanted to get his rocks off. But it had been a week since Pete had shown his face anywhere near Sophie. Sophie had told Hale that Pete had given her a hard time a couple of times and Hale had promised that he would make _personally_ sure that Pete left Charming like he was supposed to. Maybe Charming PD would actually do their jobs for once.

* * *

"So, what would you like to do for dinner?" Jax asked as he flopped onto Sophie's couch later that night.

"I don't know. Are you hungry for anything specific?" Sophie asked.

"Just you, darlin." Jax smirked.

"Real smooth." Sophie giggled.

"Everything okay?" Jax asked, picking up on something in her body language.

She shrugged. "I guess."

"You guess?" Jax replied. He patted the couch, signaling her to sit next to him.

"I'm just waiting for the next shoe to drop, ya know?" She said once he'd wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's been quiet-too quiet-for far too long."

"Maybe he's realized that you're over him?" Jax suggested.

Sophie let out a mirthless laugh. "Doubtful. It's more likely that he's licking his wounds somewhere and plotting his next move."

"And we'll be ready for him. Let him try to make a move. All he'll get is a chest full of Kabar." Jax said.

"I hope you're right. I just have a feeling that this isn't over." Sophie said.

* * *

Jax had taken Sophie out for a nice supper at the local diner. It was nice to see her laughing again and let loose a little bit. They'd gone back to Jax's place, Sophie lamenting that she needed to get out of her house.

"Abel gets out of the toaster in a few days." Jax smiled proudly.

"I know." She smiled back. "I bet you can't wait to hold him."

"I can't wait to bring him home." Jax sighed.

"All in due time, good sir." she laughed.

"I'm kind of scared though." Jax admitted. "I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a single father."

"You'll hardly be a _single_ father. You'll have your mom to help you out. And who knows, if Wendy cleans up her act, she might want to be a part of Abel's life." Sophie said quietly.

"That's up to Wendy. She can be a part of his life as long as she's clean but Wendy's been down this road before. She's going to have to prove that she's really clean this time. I have my doubts." Jax shook his head. "She couldn't kick the habit when she was pregnant. I doubt she'll be able to stay clean now that she has nothing to worry about."

"But having a baby gives her a reason to stay clean." Sophie replied.

"Yeah, I was never reason enough." Jax said a little sadly.

"I didn't mean it like that, Jax." Sophie said.

"I know. I just tried so hard to fix her." Jax said.

"You can't fix her if she doesn't want to be fixed." Sophie said.

Jax was about to reply when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He sighed when he saw it was Officer Trammel. "Yeah?" He answered. Jax pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Jesus fucking Christ, are you serious?...Yeah, I'll call Clay and we'll be right there." Jax flipped his phone shut and sighed loudly.

"What happened?" Sophie asked, on high alert.

"Somebody just blew up our fucking warehouse." Jax huffed.

* * *

Sophie was sitting at Jax's place an hour later. She'd promised to wait for him since he didn't think it would take very long to go survey the damage. Jax knew that pretty much everything was gone. He was going to need Sophie help him forget the nightmare that was facing the club. The front door opened and closed.

"That didn't take long." Sophie said before everything went dark.

**A/N: I'm sorry it took so long to get this up. I hit a serious deadlock on this story and what would happen. I'll update my other story hopefully tomorrow and get back to this early next week. :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I got a couple of reviewers that asked me not to give up on this story. I promise that I have no intentions of giving up on this story. When I write author notes that say I had a hard time with certain chapters, it's my way of explaining to you why a chapter took longer than usual to get posted. I have a need to explain myself to people and that's just what I'm doing when I say I had a hard time writing a chapter. I will never give up on a story. :)**

Jax pulled his helmet off and sighed. A sense of unease washed over him immediately. His house was completely dark. He'd flipped the outside light on before he'd left to go survey the damage at Blue Bird. Sophie had promised him that she'd wait until he got back. Her car was at her place since she'd opted for a nice, close ride with Jax on his bike. Jax rushed up the steps and threw the front door open. Movement to his left caught his attention. A tall, shadowy figure ran out the sliding glass door. Jax quickly pulled a Tech 9 from the holsters at his ribs and gave chase. Unfortunately, whoever had been in his house had too much of a head start and was quickly over the back fence before Jax could reach him.

"Sophie?" Jax called frantically as he re-entered his house. The only answer was a low groan from somewhere in the back of the house. Jax flipped the light switch in the hallway but nothing happened. "Shit," he huffed. He debated for just a moment on whether to go outside to the breaker box or get a flashlight from the kitchen drawer.

The flashlight did little to illuminate the darkness. "Sophie," he called again, "where are you?" Another groan answered him. He looked in his bedroom but it was empty. Same for the spare bedroom. Jax's heart sank as he opened the only door left: the nursery. Everything was smashed and torn. Sophie lay on the daybed, a savage cut running from her temple down to her jaw. She was soaked in blood. "Jesus," Jax whispered as he fought against tears that sprang to his eyes. Her t-shirt had been cut open, small nicks marred her skin where the blade had made contact with her body. There were bruises and cuts all over her.

Jax immediately called 911 and demanded an ambulance, only telling the dispatcher that he'd come home to find his girlfriend had been attacked; yes, she was breathing and no, she wasn't conscious. He hung up and called Opie, needing to the voice of his best friend.

"Jesus," Opie huffed. "I'll let the guys know. You want me to call Kozik or Happy?"

"Nah, man." Jax said, shaking his head even though Ope couldn't see it. "I'll call them when we know more."

Sophie groaned which caused Jax to quickly end his phone call. "Jax," She whispered.

"I'm right here, babe." He said, kneeling next to her. "Just stay still. Ambulance is on its way."

"Abel," she whispered.

"Abel's fine," he said, stroking her hair. "He's at the hospital, remember?"

"Abel," she said again.

"He's fine, I promise." Jax said, trying to carefully move some hair away from the drying blood on her face. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Dark," she whispered. She hadn't opened her eyes which made Jax even more worried.

"We'll turn the lights on in a little bit, okay?" Jax replied quietly.

"Jax?" Unser called from the front door.

"Back here!" Jax yelled.

"What the fuck happened?" Unser said. "Dispatch said a woman was attack-Jesus Christ." He spat when he caught sight of Sophie. "How bad is she?"

"I don't know." Jax replied. "When I came in, he ran out the backdoor."

"Shit," Unser huffed. "Pete?"

"Who else?" Jax ground out.

* * *

"Jax," Tara said coming out of Sophie's room.

"How is she?" Jax demanded. All the Sons moved to stand at once.

"Plastic Surgeon is with her now, doing what he can to minimize the scarring to her face. The cut was pretty deep. She has bruises on her back, arms, and legs. There were some small cuts on her chest but they didn't need stitches. The back of her head hit something with a lot of force. There's no skull fracture or bleeding on her brain which is good news. She does have a concussion so she'll be here at least overnight." Tara said. "She has some bruising on her breasts and her pubic region but she wasn't raped, thank God."

"Guess I was just in time." He huffed. "Thanks."

"Sure," Tara said.

"What do we do, brotha?" Chibs growled.

"I call Koz and Hap, let them know that sick piece of shit put Sophie back in the hospital. Then we go stomp his ass into the ground." Jax ground out.

"Aye. I'll call Juice, see if he's got a location." Chibs said, flipping his phone open.

"Koz," Jax said when the phone was picked up on the other end.

"I know." Kozik answered. "Clay told me."

"Nah, man, this isn't about the Bird getting roasted." Jax explained.

"Shit," Kozik huffed. "We're about to hit the road down there. Can't this wait?" Jax knew that Kozik didn't want to hear what he had to say.

"He put her back in the hospital." Jax said, guilt flooding through him. He shouldn't have left her alone.

"Jesus Christ. What happened?" Kozik demanded.

"I'm not sure. I left to check out the damage to our warehouse. When I came back, she was pretty out of it." Jax said.

"How bad is it?" Kozik asked, turning to look at Happy. Happy looked guilty and ready to kill something at the same time.

"It ain't bad but it ain't pretty." Jax said. "She'll be okay. She fought hard like she always does. She's got a nasty cut down the side of her face. A plastic surgeon is stitching her up. She's got some bruises and a concussion but she should be home by tomorrow."

"No," Kozik said. "She doesn't go _home._ I want somebody on her 24/7 until that son of a bitch is dead."

"I'll make sure that happens." Jax said.

"Which part?" Kozik demanded.

"The part where somebody is _on_ her." Jax couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. He needed to lighten the mood somewhat.

"Ha ha, asshole." Kozik laughed. He knew that Jax wouldn't let anything like this happen again.

"Seriously, though, man, she'll be at my place until this fucker is in a shallow grave." Jax said. "I feel shitty enough as it is that I left her alone."

"Take care of her until I get down there." Kozik said.

"I will." Jax said and Kozik hung up the other end of the line.

"How'd it go?" Chibs asked.

"About as good as can be expected, I guess. He's pissed as hell that I let his sister get attacked." Jax sighed, running a hand over his face.

"Nah, he's pissed at the bastard who attacked her." Tig said, joining the conversation.

"Did Juice have anything?" Jax asked.

"Yeah, he got a location." Chibs said. "Pete turned his phone on for a little bit."

"Good." Jax said.

* * *

"We know where he is, babe." Jax whispered to Sophie who was asleep. "By this time tomorrow, he should be dead and you should be safe."

"Jax?" She asked sleepily.

"Yeah, babe?" He replied, lovingly tucking some errant hair behind her ear.

"Let Happy do it." She said, her eyes locking on his.

"I think your brother has it all planned out." He said.

"No," She shook her head. "Happy will hurt him more than you or Herman can stomach to."

"Are you sure?" Jax was surprised to hear the words she was saying. She grabbed his hand.

"I want him to suffer." She whispered back. "I want him to suffer like he made me suffer."

"Whatever you want." Jax conceded.

"Have you checked on Abel?" Sophie asked as tears welled in her eyes.

"I went up there for a few minutes while you were still with the plastic surgeon. Why?"

"He said he was going to kill Abel after he got done with me." Sophie sniffed.

"Abel's fine. I promise." Jax said, making a mental note to put the prospect outside the NICU. "Now, get some sleep."

Sophie nodded, closing her eyes and squeezed his hand. "I love you."

"I love you, too. I'm not going to let anything like this ever happen to you again." He vowed.


	14. Chapter 14

"Jesus Christ," Jax huffed when he stepped into Abel's room. Sophie was going to be released in a few hours and Jax needed to take a shower along with cleaning up any remnants of the attack. He hadn't taken much time to look around last night for obvious reasons so he'd completely missed the "art" on Abel's wall. "She's Mi" with a half-written N had been smeared in what appeared to be blood. Jax shook his head, the bastard had used Sophie's blood to try to write "She's Mine" on Abel's wall but Jax had obviously interrupted Pete. It made Jax sick to his stomach. He wasn't a queasy man usually but this was his old lady's blood on his son's wall and it was some prick trying declare Sophie as _his _when she didn't want anything to do with this guy anymore. Jax was going to have to get the prospect over here to try to wash the message away or paint over it if it wouldn't come off with water. The prospect and some other guys were going to have to help Jax clean up the mess that had been made from Abel's shelves being knocked over. It wouldn't take long to put the room back together before Sophie came back to the house.

Jax gave up trying to get anything done by himself. He'd need a couple extra sets of hands to get the job done. He'd also have to change the locks on the front door. Jax knew he'd locked the door when he left to go to the Blue Bird but Sophie had told Unser that Pete walked right in. In fact, Sophie said, she thought it was Jax coming home because she'd heard keys. Jax wouldn't put it past that crazy motherfucker to have made a duplicate of Jax's house key somehow. Probably had swiped it from Wendy. Jax hadn't changed the locks since Wendy had moved out.

Jax turned the water on in the shower and waited until he'd got the temperature just right before stripping his clothes off and stepping in the tub to let the warm water wash over him. It felt good to have the dirt and worry washed away and the warm water helped his muscles relax. He hadn't realized how on edge he'd been since Sophie had landed in the hospital the first time. But now that they had a location for Pete, he wouldn't have to worry much longer.

* * *

"Hey, darlin." Happy's voice still sounded menacing even though he was talking to one of his favorite people in the world. It was just how his voice naturally sounded.

"Hey, Hap." Sophie sleepily grinned.

"Heard you have a job for me." Happy said, taking the chair Jax had vacated some time earlier.

"Only if you want it." Sophie stretched.

"Of course I want it. Especially if it's killing shit." Happy said. He moved some hair away from her face to assess the cut. "Doesn't look too bad. Jax said you were getting stitches?"

"Nah," Sophie shook her head. "The surgeon said that by gluing it closed it would minimize the scarring. Instead of a big scar with many little scars from the stitches, this way, I'll just have the line. It'll be easily covered by my hair." Sophie replied. "Herman with you?"

"Yeah," Happy nodded. "He's getting the info we need from Juice so we can go after this guy."

* * *

"Hello, Pete." Happy said menacingly a short time later as he walked up to where the chicken-shit soon-to-be dead man was sitting in a wooden chair in front of an empty cabin.

"Do I know you?" Pete asked carefully.

"No, but you know me." Kozik said walking up behind Happy.

"Herman! It's good to see you!" Pete exclaimed, quickly looking around for an escape route. He didn't know how these guys had found him and after the damage he'd inflicted on Sophie, he knew there was no way he was walking away from this.

"Do _not_ act like we're friends." Kozik ground out, pointing a leather glad finger in Pete's direction.

"I know I screwed up, man. I just love Sophie so much that I lost my shit." Pete stammered.

"That's not all you're going to lose." Happy menaced.

"I promise I'll leave her alone. I'll let Jax have her." Pete said throwing his hands up in front of him, hoping to save himself. One look at the bald guy with a snake tattooed on his head and the expression is his eyes was enough to cement Pete's fate in his own mind. There was no way he was walking away from this.

"Yeah, you're going to let Jax have her, all right." Happy growled.

"I won't bother them." Pete pleaded.

"Oh, I know that." Kozik said. "My friend here is known as the Tacoma Killer. Do you know they call him the Tacoma Killer because he likes to kill things?"

"Mostly people." Happy nodded. "Especially little pathetic whores who beat on women. Especially women that are the mother charter's VP's old lady."

"What?" Pete asked confused, not following the last bit of what Happy said.

"Basically, you fucked with the wrong woman." Kozik huffed.

"No, man. I'll just leave her alone and nobody has to know anything, right?" Pete said as panic set in.

"Right," Kozik said, grabbing Pete by the back of the neck.

"Right," Happy grinned sickly as he flipped the leather roll in his hands so that it came undone. Pete's stomach lurched at the sight of all of the sharp instruments in the roll. "I think I'll start with your face, doing what you did to her...only worse."

* * *

Jax grinned as he flipped his phone closed. His smile met Sophie as she came out of the bathroom of her hospital room after changing into clothes to go home in.

"What?" She smiled at him. Jax walked up to her, cupped the left side of her face in his hand, mindful of the cut on the right side of her face. He kissed her long and passionately. Sophie wound her arms around his neck. They broke apart and she smiled at him while they swayed slightly together. "What?" She repeated.

"It's done." He said.

"Really?" She couldn't let herself believe it at first.

"Really. Pete won't be bothering you again." Jax said.

"Thank God." Sophie whispered, as Jax lay his forehead against hers.

"Thank Happy." Jax joked.


	15. Chapter 15

Jax rubbed the sleep from his eyes before rolling over to look at the clock. Frustration set in when he realized that Sophie wasn't in bed next to him. She'd been out of the hospital for almost a week but had yet to sleep through the night without being terrorized by nightmares of her attack. It didn't help that Sophie had suggested that she should go stay at her house. Kozik was still in town and he could sleep on her couch to help her feel safe. Jax didn't like the idea of Sophie being away from him but he could understand that being in the house where she was attacked wasn't helping her psyche much. To make matters worse, Abel was being released in a couple of days so Jax wouldn't be able to stay with Sophie. She hadn't set foot in Abel's nursery and Jax knew that it would become a problem if she couldn't go into Abel's room to care for him. Jax wasn't stupid enough to even try to pretend that if he and Sophie got back together that Sophie wouldn't be Abel's caregiver most of the time. And caring for Abel would mean going into the nursery.

Jax sighed as he quietly padded towards the living room.

* * *

"Still can't sleep?" Juice asked when he answered the phone.

"Nah," Sophie replied. "It still freaks me out when I wake up in the dark. I hate the dark now."

"Get a night light." Juice said.

"Yeah, that'd go over well. 'Hey, Jax, I know you're a big bad ass biker but I need a night light.'" She scoffed.

"Trust me, with everything Jax has woken up to over the years, I don't think a night light would be a problem." Juice laughed. A noise in the background caught Sophie's attention.

"Where the fuck are you?" Sophie asked as she popped a cheese cube into her mouth.

"At home." Juice answered.

"It sounds like you're at a farm." Sophie said cautiously.

"That's just my new chicken." Juice laughed.

"You got a chicken?" Sophie asked incredulously.

"Yeah. I always wanted a chicken. I just don't know what to name it." Juice said.

"Name it 'Lips.'" Sophie suggested.

"Why would I name it 'Lips?'" Juice asked.

"Because chickens don't have lips, fucker." Sophie laughed.

"I'm going to bring it to the garage tomorrow. You should come by and see it."

"Did you just ask me to come to the garage to see your cock?" Sophie laughed. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Jax cleared his throat from behind her.

"Do not ever say anything like that again!" Juice admonished. "Jax would kill me if he heard you say that!"

"Um...you may want to not go to the garage tomorrow." Sophie said.

"Fuck. Go explain this to him!" Juice demanded before hanging up.

"It's so not what it sounds like." Sophie said to Jax. "Juice got a chicken. That's it."

"Juice got a chicken?" Jax asked, wondering if he was still asleep.

"He said he's always wanted one." Sophie explained.

"So...he just went out and bought a chicken?" Jax rubbed a hand over his face.

"I think he's a little ADD." Sophie said.

"Yeah. Just a little." Jax chuckled. "You gonna come back to bed?"

"Sure." Sophie nodded and followed him back into the bedroom.

* * *

"How's she doin?" Gemma asked Jax the next day at the hospital.

Jax shrugged. "Not good. She's not sleeping through the night. Hasn't stepped foot in Abel's room since the attack." Jax shifted the infant in his arms so he could feed his son a bottle.

"How's she gonna take care of my grandson if she can't set foot in his room?" Gemma huffed.

"Ma," Jax said sternly. "We'll get it worked out."

"I know, baby. I just want what's best for you and Abel." Gemma replied.

"Sophie is what's best for me and Abel." Jax huffed.

"Jax, I know you like her but-" Gemma started.

"I _love_ her, Mom. I want to make a life with her." Jax snarked.

"Jax, I can understand that but she's just so...broken." Gemma said. "I don't know if you can fix her."

* * *

"Ouch! Jesus Christ, Juice! That thing is a menace." Sophie groused, glaring at the chicken.

"Don't chickens get rabies or some shit?" Tig asked.

"No, chickens don't get rabies." Juice huffed.

"Why is it staying here, again?" Tig eyed the chicken wearily.

"Mutten Chops wants to eat her." Juice sighed.

"Your dog's named is Mutten Chops?" Tig asked.

"Don't look at me." Juice shrugged and pointed at Sophie. "She named him."

"Hey, you can't blame me." Sophie exclaimed. "I was drunk when I suggested that name. It's not my fault you went with it."

"I call him 'MC.'" Juice said.

"Just don't let Bobby see that thing." Tig said. "He'll cook it for dinner."

"He wouldn't dare!" Sophie scoffed.

"He would and it would be delicious." Tig replied.

"Nobody is going to eat Juice's cock." Jax grinned as he walked into the Clubhouse.

"Hey," Sophie grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss. Jax was happy to see her be more relaxed. "How's everything with Abel?"

"Good, he's ready to come home." Jax grinned.

"Can't wait." Sophie smiled. Jax was pretty good at reading her and she seemed genuinely happy that Abel would be home with them. "I'm gonna go back home and start some dinner."

"I'll be there in a bit." Jax said, placing another kiss on her lips.

* * *

Sophie wiped her hands on a towel when she heard the knock on the door. When she answered, she was faced with a hard looking Gemma.

"Hey, Gem." Sophie said a little nervously. She knew Gemma was going to lay into her.

"We need to talk." Gemma said pushing past Sophie and into the house.

"Okay," Sophie said.

"You refuse to go into Abel's room and that's a big problem for me." Gemma said. "You cannot take care of my grandson if you won't go into his room. You need to let Jax find a woman who can do what's needed."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I know that I've been taking longer to get chapters up. My schedule for stories is that I update Broken and then I update Fix Me. I've been busy with school work and next semester looks like it's going to be worse. Please bear with me. I will update when I can, I promise.**

**Hold onto your mittens, kittens, it's about to get hot in here.**

Jax came out of the bedroom is disbelief. He sat down at the dining room table. "Wow. Clean sheets, nice dinner. I could get used to this." Jax said.

"Yeah," Sophie said angrily, forcefully setting their plates down on the table.

"Shit," Jax hissed. "What happened?"

"Oh nothing," Sophie snarked.

Jax put his fork down softly and leaned back in his chair. He knew she was pissed. She wouldn't look at him and her knee was bouncing a million miles a minute. "Soph."

"Your mom stopped by." Sophie gave him the fakest smile she could.

"Fuck," Jax huffed. "What'd she do?"

"Oh, nothing." Sophie said. "But she wants me packed up and out of here by the time Abel comes home tomorrow."

"Jesus Christ," Jax seethed. How dare his mother?

"Yeah, it seems that she feels the same way that you do." Sophie glared at him, furious.

"What do you mean she feels the same way as me?" Jax asked.

"That I can't possibly take care of Abel." She said as tears welled in her eyes. "You could have just told me instead of going to your mother."

"Babe, I didn't go to my mother. That's not what I said at all." Jax said getting up and grabbing her hand. He led her into the living room and sat on the couch. He wrapped an arm around her and she laid her head against his chest.

"She thinks I can't go into Abel's room, Jackson. She doesn't want me to have anything to do with him or you. She wants you to find somebody that isn't a complete broken wreck." Sophie said.

"She will get used to us; just give her some time. She doesn't think you're broken." Jax said, stroking her hair.

"Yes, she does, Jax. Those were her exact words. She said I am too broken for you to fix. And then she pointed out that you can't take care of me and Abel. It's gotta be one or the other and I should know that you'll choose Abel."

"Jesus," Jax said. "My mother is a sadistic bitch. Soph, I don't believe any of that. You aren't broken to me. Yeah, you're a little bent, maybe, but we can get through this. I won't let you go. Not this time. I will pound Juice's face against the floor if I have to so that he'll tell me where you are. I will torture Happy if it comes to that." He was awarded with her laughter. "I've been miserable without you for far too long. I want you and I want my son. My mother is going to have to live with that. You are _not_ broken."

Sophie stood up and grabbed Jax's hand, leading him to the bedroom. Jax was happy that Sophie was taking the lead in this next step in their relationship. She kissed him slowly, torturing him with her pace. It was obvious that she wasn't in a rush. She pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it onto the floor. He cupped her face in his hand, kissing her hungrily, trying to get her to go faster. She shot him a wicket grin and slowly kissed her way down his chest, taking her time to tease his nipples and stroke his abs. She licked her way to the trail of fine hair that disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. Jax tangled his hands in her hair, wanting to stop her and wanting to urge her to keep going.

Sophie locked her eyes with his and wicked smile spread across her face as she slowly undid his belt. It was delightful torture as she popped the button on his jeans and slowly lowered his zipper. When she licked her lips, Jax threw his head and groaned, remembering the feel of her lips wrapped around him, working him with her hot tongue.

Jax was lost in his memory so it surprised him a little when he felt a cold draft surround him. He hadn't even felt her pull his jeans and boxers down to pool around his shins. Her warm hand cupped his balls, squeezing and massaging them.

"Jesus," he whispered.

Sophie ran her steamy tongue over his tip and down his shaft, being painfully slow. Her tongue circled his base before slowly making its way back up to his tip. Her mouth closed over his tip and he almost lost his mind. He'd been dreaming of being with her like this for ten years. Finally, his dreams were coming true. She slowly slid down him, taking as much of him into her hot mouth as she could. He knew exacty how far to push without making her gag. Her gag reflex was something he often teased her about. He still had fistfuls of her hair in his hands, forcing her to move quicker. She grabbed his hips and gladly indulged him.

He was momentarily confused when she pulled away from him with a frustrated groan. He looked down to see what made her upset and she was searching through his jeans. She looked at his cell phone and tossed it into the hallway. He quirked an eyebrow at her.

She shrugged. "It was your mom. I can go get it if you want to talk to her."

Jax grinned evily at her in response. "Nah, darlin', I owe you some payback." He pulled her to her feet and attacked her neck with nips and licks, her hands going to his shoulders. He pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside. He licked along her collarbone, and down to her cleavage. He pushed her tits together, licking them both at the same time, giving them small nips like he knew she liked. He reached behind her and unclasped her bra, pulling the straps down her arms and tossed it aside. He cupped one breast in his rough hand, while sucking the other one into his mouth, his moves slow and deliberate. It was her turn to tangle her hands in his hair and moan.

He popped the button on her jeans and pulled down the zipper, quickly helping her out of her pants. He kicked his pants and boxers off and pushed her back onto the bed. He crawled over her, resuming his ministrations on her tits. They were round, warm, and perfect, just like he remembered. Her legs wrapped around his waist. He could feel her wetness through her panties. He let one hand wander down her stomach and under the elastic of her silk underwear. She cried out when he found her folds. She was ready, hot and slick. He rubbed her clit with his thumb while delving his fingers into her. He slowly withdrew his fingers and then just as slowly pushed them back inside her. He licked down her body, soon replacing his fingers with his mouth. She tasted exactly like he remembered. He slowly explored her, torturing her like she had him.

"Jax," she said hoarsely, tweaking her nipples. "Please."

He didn't hesitate. He climbed back up her body, sealing his lips to hers as he pushed into her.

"Fuck," he groaned as she arched up to meet him.

"Oh, God," she moaned. Her hands clutched his biceps as he slowly pulled all the way out before entering her again. She was soaked and it was easy to get back inside.

Everything melted away from Jax. All that he was aware of was the feel of being buried deep within Sophie and he watched her as he moved inside her. She arched her hips to his expertly, they were totally in sync.

It seemed like hours until it wasn't enough anymore and he had to move quicker, deeper. He couldn't help but move faster, and faster, Sophie urging him on.

"Fuck, Jackson!" She cried as her muscles clenched around him.

"God, Sophie," He grunted as he exploded inside her.

* * *

Minutes later, Sophie was laying with her front pressed against Jax, her leg thrown over his waist as her inner-muscles sporadically clenched. He had one hand on the small of her back and one stroked her hair. One of her hands was on his stomach, the other playing with his hair.

Neither of them knew how long they lay like that, basking in just being together but when Jax woke up to his phone chirping, it was dark outside.


	17. Chapter 17

Jax groaned in protest at the sound of his phone chirping at him from the hallway. He smiled at the sight of Sophie's head on his chest, her arm thrown over his chest and resting on his arm. She grumbled and rolled away from him.

He forced his way up and quickly went to retrieve his phone. He didn't want it to wake Sophie. This was the longest that she'd been able to sleep since the attack and he didn't want to change that. Jax huffed out a breath when he saw who was calling as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"There any particular reason you're calling me in the middle of the night except to be a major pain the ass?" Jax asked.

"Listen here, you little shit head, it could have been the hospital calling about your son." She huffed angrily and a little hurt.

"Tara's name would have come up and not yours." Jax replied. "What's going on, Mom? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, baby, everything's just fine." Gemma answered.

"Okay. Well...I'm going back to sleep." Jax said, more than a little irritated.

"Drove by Sophie's a few minutes ago." Gemma said.

"And?" Jax ran a hand over his face.

"Kozik's bike is there but her car's not." Gemma pointed out.

"You knew it wouldn't be, Ma. She's been staying with me since the attack." Jax clenched his jaw. His mom was impossible sometimes...well, most times.

"I just thought she might have got the idea to go home by now." Gemma said trying to sound innocent.

"Yeah, we're going to talk about that later." Jax said angrily.

"Talk about what, baby?" Gemma asked rolling her eyes. Stupid bitch couldn't keep her mouth shut about Gemma's visit and had to run to Jax.

"You know damn well what, _Gemma_. We'll talk tomorrow." Jax snarled before flipping his phone closed.

Jax set his phone on the bedside table and got back into bed. He pulled Sophie back against him and breathed in the scent of her hair before he let himself fall back asleep.

* * *

Jax felt good when he pulled into the TM lot the next morning. Sophie had slept all night without any nightmares and Abel was coming home later today. He almost wanted to let his mom's behavior slide. _Almost_. He knew he couldn't just let her get away with being a mega-bitch to Sophie or Gemma would think that he was going to stand for it. Jax wasn't willing to stand for it anymore. Before they'd split up 10 years ago, Jax had tried to let Sophie deal with Gemma on her own. But now he knew for a fact that Gemma wouldn't back off unless _he_ told her to. Gemma had been just as bad with Tara too. Gemma was going to have to learn that Jax was allowed to have a woman in his life that wasn't his mother. Sure, Gemma had no problem per se when Jax was just fucking Croweaters. She'd put on a show about not liking it and telling him to settle down and find something more permanent. But, Gemma hadn't like Tara, despised Wendy, and was now trying to run off Sophie.

"You look different this morning..." Gemma started when Jax walked into her office.

"Okay." Jax shrugged.

"Almost like you got some sleep or somethin." Gemma said looking at the paperwork on her desk.

"Yeah, I did." Jax crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I'm going to say this once, Mom, so you better listen." He waited until Gemma looked at him before continuing. "Whatever demons Sophie has to get past, we'll get past them..._together_. If you go to my house again to try to make Sophie leave, I will change the locks so fast, your hair will go flat. Sophie is my choice, Ma. I'm going to be with her and if you have a problem with that, it's going to be _your_ problem that you'll have to keep to yourself. Sophie will take great care of Abel. I swear, you will not run her off."

"I'm not trying to run her off, Jackson." Gemma replied slowly. "I'm trying to do what's best for you and Abel."

"Sophie is what's best for me and Abel. Backoff and leave her alone. Last warning." Jax said before leaving the office.

* * *

"How're things going?" Donna asked Sophie as she helped Sophie get ready for Abel's coming home party.

"Great." Sophie beamed. "I'm excited for Abel to finally get home."

"What about Jax?" Donna asked.

"He's excited." Sophie shrugged. "He's a little nervous that he's going to have to change diapers and all that stuff but he's ready."

"What about Gemma?" Donna asked, having heard from Opie all about Jax's talk with Gemma that morning.

"She wants me gone. What's new there?" Sophie asked. "Everything is going to be fine."

* * *

Abel's coming home party went off without a hitch. Abel was passed around to all the members and their ol' ladies. Sophie'd never seen so many big, bad bikers cooing at a baby and making goofy faces before. Jax easily slipped into the role of proud papa. Wendy even stopped by to celebrate her son's discharge from the hospital. To top it all off, Gemma acted civil towards Sophie. It was an unusually good night for the club, instead of their usual club business.

**A/N: I am so stuck on this story! I have no idea where to take it. Ideas welcome! Anything you'd like to see, please let me know.**


	18. Chapter 18

Sophie huffed as she rolled over in bed. Abel had been home for two weeks and Jax had yet to get up in the middle of the night to take care of his son. She knew that Jax had a lot going on with the Club but this was _his _son, not hers. She loved Abel and it was nice to get to bond with him but getting up all hours of the night was exhausting. She could barely get through a day at work which had Gemma very satisfied. Gemma did not miss an opportunity to insinuate that Sophie couldn't balance taking care of Abel and working. The sad thing was that Sophie was starting to think Gemma was right. Abel was with Sophie 24/7. Sure, Jax helped out when he could but it wasn't much.

Kozik had moved into Sophie's house since she was spending all her time at Jax's house. Sophie knew that getting back together with Jax meant that she would have to step in and take care of Abel. She just wished Jax would treat her more than a live-in nanny/cum dumpster. That's exactly how she felt. When he got home from doing whatever it was that kept him out at all hours of the night, he wanted to fuck and then go right to sleep. It was like he didn't even see her there. And the other problem was that he didn't talk to her anymore. He didn't tell her what was going on with the club anymore. He was secretive with his activities. Sophie knew that a lot of ol' ladies didn't want to know what their men did for the club but Jax and Sophie had always had full disclosure...except for now.

Sophie pulled back the blankets and softly padded to Abel's room at the first expected whimpers. It was time for his 3 a.m. feeding and diaper change. While Abel drank greedily from his bottle, she watched him. Not for the first time she wondered if Jax would notice if he came home and they were gone.

* * *

"Jesus," Tig said the next morning when Sophie placed Abel's carrier in the usual spot and put the diaper bag next to it. She pulled out a pacifier and popped into his mouth before handing him a rattle. That would at least let her get some work done before having to attend to the baby. "You gettin' _any_ sleep?"

"Some," Sophie yawned, pulling one of Otto's old work shirts over her tank top. "But not much."

"I can tell." Tig said. "Sorry, baby girl." He held up his hands when she shot him a death glare. "But you look like hell."

"I feel like hell." She groused. "I never thought I'd be a single mother to a baby I didn't even give birth to." Abel babbled at her. "Yes, I do love you very much." Sophie said to the baby.

"Darlin," Bobby said joining Tig and Sophie, "you're gonna have to make Jax step up."

"How?" Sophie asked, near tears. "He's _never_ home."

"I don't want to get into details but I know what every man wants before his head hits his pillow for that night." Bobby said. "So, tonight when he gets home, you just roll over and tell him you're too damn tired. Worked with me. Colette did that a couple nights in a row and I learned real quick."

"And look how _that_ turned out." Tig grinned.

"I didn't say we had a good marriage." Bobby huffed. "I'm just sayin holdin' out works."

"Who's holding out on who?" Kozik asked, throwing an arm around his sister.

"Elvis was telling me to deny Jax sex so that he'll come home more and help take care of the kid." Sophie yawned.

* * *

"Anybody seen Sophie?" Gemma asked around noon, her hand on her hip.

"Um, not since she went to sit down and feed the kid." Tig shrugged.

"Great." Gemma huffed, ready to blow a gasket. She stormed into the office and stopped abruptly. Sophie was asleep on the couch with Abel sleeping on her chest. "Stupid son should really help out more." Gemma whispered. It melted her heart towards Sophie a little bit to see how diligent she was to Abel's needs while neglecting her own. Gemma walked out into the parking lot and saw Jax joking with some of the other guys. "Hey, dickhead!" she called.

"Yeah?" Jax arched a brow at her.

"Come here." Gemma demanded.

"What?" Jax said as he walked up to her.

"You should take Sophie and Abel home." Gemma said gently.

"Why?" Jax asked, confused.

"She's exhausted, Jax." Gemma said, trying to keep her voice even. She didn't like Sophie that much but she was the closest thing Abel had to a mother. Jax was completely blind to how tired Sophie was.

"She's fine." Jax replied.

"She's asleep on the couch in my office." Gemma informed him. Jax sighed, annoyed. "Don't you take an attitude with her." Gemma snarked, poking a finger into her son's chest. "She's been doing a lot for you lately. Not that you would notice."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jax groused.

"Sophie's a walking zombie, Jackson. All she does is take care of Abel and work. She's obviously not getting any sleep." Gemma replied.

"She knew what she was getting into when she moved in." Jax lit a cigarette.

Gemma clamped down on her anger. Striking Jax on the lot of his Clubhouse would not be a wise move. "Look, you little asshole, she may have realized what she was getting into when she took Abel on. But he's your son too. You need to start pitching in a little bit."

"Leave it alone, Ma." Jax said angrily. "It's none of your business. Why are you so upset anyway? It's not like you give a shit."

"I care about my grandson. What if she falls asleep while she's cooking something and burns down the house? What if she falls asleep driving home? Besides, her work is seriously lacking. She's not getting anything done around here. If her performance doesn't pick up, I'm going to have to fire her." Gemma said.

"Whatever." Jax mumbled as he walked away.

* * *

Jax stripped off his cut the second he walked through his front door. Like usual, Sophie left the hall light on for him. It was 2:30 in the morning. He'd spend a little quality time with his ol' lady before turning in for a few hours sleep until the alarm clock went off and they had to get ready to go to work.

Jax slipped into bed quietly after shedding his clothes except his boxers. He nuzzled Sophie's neck in an attempt to wake her up.

"So tired." She groaned, not really awake. Jax bit her playfully on the neck trying to wake her all the way up. He sighed in frustration when she rolled away from him. He snuggled against her back.

"Babe," He whispered into her ear. "Wake up."

"I can't." She mumbled. Jax cupped her breast through her tank top.

"Come on, darlin." He said, nibbling on her jaw. Without warning, Sophie gave a frustrated groan and was out of the bed. "Where you goin?" He almost whined.

"To make Abel's bottle. By the time it's ready, he'll want to eat." Sophie answered angrily, storming to the kitchen.

"Something wrong?" Jax asked, following her.

"Everything's fine, Jax. Why wouldn't it be?" She asked pulling a bottle and formula from a cabinet.

"You're pissed as hell." Jax pointed out.

"I'm _tired_, Jackson. I haven't gotten more than three hours sleep in two weeks." Sophie said as tears welled in her eyes.

"When you're done feeding the kid, come back to bed and I'll help you get tired." He grinned sexily at her.

"Excuse me?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "I just told you that I'm tired as fuck and you're answer is sex?"

"Well...yeah." Jax shrugged.

"How about _you_ feed _your_ son while I go back to bed?" Sophie demanded.

"I got a long day tomorrow." Jax said. "I need to get some sleep."

"What about me?" Sophie cried, tears falling down her cheeks.

"What about you?" Jax asked. "Feed the kid and go back to bed."

Jax lay in bed a few minutes later, listening to Sophie softly cry as she sat feeding Abel.

* * *

It was around 10:30 the next morning when Jax noticed that Kozik and some of the other guys were giving him the stink eye. He ignored them. He was trying to step up in the Club, to prove that he wasn't soft now that he had a baby at home. He had half a mind to tell Sophie to lay off spilling her guts to the guys because it was starting to affect how they worked with him. He noticed that Abel's usual spot on one of the work benches was empty and her car wasn't in the lot.

"Ma, you heard from Soph?" Jax asked.

"Yeah, she called 'bout half an hour ago and said she wasn't coming into work for a few days. Sounded like shit, too, like she was sobbing." Gemma said. "You tell her not to bother coming in at all."

"You're really going to fire her?" Jax demanded.

"You bet your ass I am. She hasn't done shit around here in two weeks, Jackson. And now she's flaking out on me, calling me two hours late to tell me she's taking a couple days off?" Gemma huffed.

"Thanks for being understanding, Mom." Jax snarked before leaving the office. He stopped in the parking lot when he noticed Donna pull into a parking space. She got out and pulled something from the backseat. Jax was momentarily confused. Donna was carrying a baby in a carseat. Then he realized she was carrying Abel and she looked like she wanted to rip his nuts off.

"Hey, Donna." He said trying to lighten the mood. Instead of answering, she shoved Abel's carrier into Jax's chest.

"Here, take care of your kid." Donna snarked before turning to leave.

"Where's Sophie?" Jax asked.

She whipped around to face him. "I don't know, Jackson. Alls I know is that she showed up at my office crying uncontrollably. She asked me to look after Abel and then she left." Donna said through clenched teeth.

"Shit," Jax said as Donna stormed away. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and held down number 2, the speed dial button for Sophie. She would have been number 1 but that was unfortunately already designated for voicemail by the phone manufacturer.

"_The phone number you're trying to reach is no longer in service."_ An automated voice td him.

"Koz," Jax said, running up to Herman. "Where's Soph?"

Kozik pulled his head out from under the hood of the car he was working on. "Figured she stayed home today to get some sleep." He shrugged.

"You tried calling her?" Jax asked, panic setting in.

"No," Kozik shrugged.

"Her number is out of service." Jax explained before running off to find Juice, Abel protesting to being jostled around. "Juice!"

"Jax!" Juice grinned stupidly at his VP.

"Where's Sophie?" Jax demanded.

Juice shrugged. "Out in the bays?"

"This isn't funny, dickhead! Tell me where she is!" Jax yelled, making Abel cry. He bunched Juice's work shirt in his fists.

"Whoa," Juice said, holding his hands up in front of him. "She's gotta be around here somewhere. Just call her."

"I did! Her number is out of service." Jax said.

"That's not possible." Juice replied pulling out his cell phone. He hit the speed dial for Sophie. He sighed when he got the automated voice. "Fuck."

"_Find her_!" Jax demanded.

"I'll try tracking her phone but I don't know how much luck I'll have since I don't have her number." Juice replied.

"Do it!" Jax said. "Please..." he pleaded. "I need to find her."

**A/N: Dun dun dun! Where _is_ Sophie?**


	19. Chapter 19

Juice sighed. He didn't recognize the number on his cell phone display. He flipped open his phone. "Yeah," he said warily. He was exhausted. Jax hadn't let him sleep in two days. Jax had been staying at the Clubhouse with Abel and whenever the baby woke his dad, his dad woke up Juice to see if he'd found out anything on Sophie.

"_Juice,_" She said. "Finally!"

"Where the fuck are you?" He asked. He quickly looked around to make sure none of his brothers was paying attention to him. He quickly walked out of the Clubhouse.

"I'm at the beach." Sophie answered. "I've been trying to call you for two days."

"Jax has called you every five minutes for the past two days. It says your number is out of service." Juice said angrily.

"I know! I just got it figured out with the phone company. Stupid assholes transposed some numbers and put my payment on another account. So they shut my phone off for non-payment." Sophie groused. "They just turned my phone back on."

"You couldn't have called me before now to let me know that you weren't dead?" he demanded.

"When I got to my room I crashed for twelve hours straight." Sophie said.

"That still leaves you 36 hours to call me!" He snapped.

"I know! I'm sorry! I couldn't call you. I didn't want you to tell Jax where I am."

"I withheld your location for five fucking years!" Juice yelled. He noticed Chibs turn to look at him. _Shit!_

"I know! I'm sorry!" Sophie repeated, near tears. "I couldn't think straight, okay? I needed sleep and then, I wasn't sure what to say. What do you say to one of your best-friends after you just up and leave?"

"I don't know but you need to call Jax." Juice ground out. "_I_ haven't slept in two days. He's unbearable."

"I don't want to talk to him." Sophie replied.

"I swear beyond everything holy, Sophie. You better call Jax right now and tell him that you're fine. You don't have to tell him where you are but if you don't call him and tell him that you're fine, I will trace this phone number and give him your location." Juice threatened.

"You wouldn't!" Sophie cried.

"Try me." Juice said before flipping his phone closed.

"Everything okay?" Chibs asked, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Juice shrugged. "Just tired." He smiled weakly.

"Where is she?" Chibs grinned.

"What? Who?" Juice tried to play stupid.

"You know exactly who. The lass that has Jax all tied in a knot." Chibs replied.

"I should have known I couldn't get anything past you." Juice rolled his eyes. "She's at the beach. Her phone was shut off over a mistake but it's on now."

"You gonna tell him where she is?"

"Not right away." Juice said honestly. "She's pissed at him and I don't blame her. He's treated her like shit for awhile. But if she doesn't call him and at least tell him that she's okay, I will give him the name of the hotel she's staying at just so I can get some sleep."

* * *

Jax sat on the edge of the bed at his house, Gemma having finally threatened to take Abel away from him if he stayed at the Clubhouse any longer. It was not healthy for a baby to be breathing in that much smoke, booze, and pussy Gemma said. He lit a cigarette, trying to wake himself up. It had been hell trying to take care of Abel and do everything else that needed to get done. The past two days had been a huge eye opener for him and he could see why Sophie was so pissed at him. And now that he realized how hard she'd been working and was ready to apologize his ass off and make things right, he couldn't find her.

A knock on the door had him quickly pulling a shirt on and padding towards the front of the house. He was hoping upon hope that it was Sophie.

"Hey, didn't mean to wake you." Wendy said when he pulled open the door.

"I was awake." He said. "What's up?" He moved to let her inside.

"Place looks great." She said.

"Thanks." He said, wishing she'd get to the point. "You leave rehab again?"

"I graduated." She said proudly. "45 days sober."

"That's great." He said and he meant it.

"I have a couple of days until I go into sober living."

"I'm happy for you, Wendy. That's great." Jax said.

"I was wondering if it would be okay if I saw Abel." Wendy said. "I haven't seen him since he was in the hospital."

"Yeah, I don't see why not." Jax shrugged. "He should be waking up any minute for a bottle and a change."

"Your mom taking care of him during the day?" Wendy asked.

Jax shook his head as he took a deep drag off his cigarette. "Sophie was taking care of him."

"Was?" Wendy arched an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "She left a couple of days ago."

"Jesus, Jax, I'm sorry to hear that." Wendy said. Jax didn't really care if she meant it or not.

"You know me. I can woo a woman when I need to but I can't keep my shit together for long so I drive them away." He replied.

"That's not really true." Wendy said. "You kept me around for awhile."

"Not for a lack of trying." He grinned at her. "I was a major-league asshole."

"And I was too high to care." Wendy grinned back. "We both had our problems."

Jax handed Wendy a bottle he'd popped into the warmer. He was right on time as Abel started crying as soon as the bottle was in Wendy's hand. Wendy immediately started crying when she saw how big and strong her son had gotten since she'd last seen him. She felt a bit stupid since Jax had to give her tips and pointers for taking care of the baby.

"Where you stayin until you go to sober living?" Jax asked.

Wendy shrugged. "I'll get a hotel."

"You can stay here." Jax offered.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Jax." Wendy replied.

"I meant in the spare bedroom." He chuckled. "I could use some help taking care of the kid at night."

"I'd love that." She beamed at him.

"I, honestly, don't know how Sophie did it twenty four hours a day for two weeks." Jax shook his head.

"Jesus, Jackson! No wonder she high-tailed it out of here." Wendy laughed. "You can't just dump your kid on your girlfriend and expect her to do everything. And if I know you half as well as I think I do, you weren't satisfied to just come home and let the poor thing sleep either. I bet you woke her up every night so you could get your rocks off before rolling over and going to sleep."

Her words hit Jax like a ton of bricks. That's exactly what he'd been doing to Sophie for two weeks. He mentally slapped himself in the back of the head. How could he have treated Sophie so horribly? He grimaced when he remembered that last night, how he'd practically begged her for sex, not realizing how tired she was.

* * *

Sophie swallowed her nerves as she opened the door. Juice was right, she should have called Jax but she didn't want to talk to him over the phone. When she hung up with Juice she packed her stuff and drove back to Charming. She needed to face Jackson and lay down some rules.

Laughter drew her attention to the back of the house. She opened Abel's door to find Wendy cradling Abel in her arms as Jax stood by the rocking chair.

"Sophie!" He said, surprised and happy to see her.

"Hey," she said quietly, not sure what she had just walked in on.

Jax ushered her out to the kitchen before wrapping her in his arms. "I am so sorry, babe. I know that I was a complete jackass."

Sophie moved out of his grasp, more than a little shocked to have found Wendy in the house. "I just needed some sleep. I should have told you where I was going." She said quietly.

"No, Soph. You had every right to bail. I wasn't paying attention to your needs." He said, cupping her face in his hands.

"So, Wendy's helping you?" Sophie had to try really hard so it didn't come out sounding jealous or bitter.

"Yeah, I guess." Jax shrugged. "She just showed up this morning. She's got a few days before she goes to sober living so she wanted to see Abel. To be honest, I don't know how you took care of the kid by yourself for two weeks."

"It's amazing what you can do when you have to." She smirked at him.

"I should never have made you do that, though." Jax said. "I am so glad you're back."

Sophie held up her hand. "I can't go back to the way things were Jax."

"I know, babe, and you don't have to! Wendy will take care of Abel at night while you sleep."

"And during the day?" Sophie asked not really believing what she was hearing. "And after she leaves?"

Jax shrugged. "I haven't thought about it."

"Well, you need to think about it. _You_ need to help out too. I am not some chick you can dump your kid on because you'd rather be out playing Bad Ass Biker. And I am not some croweater that you can just use as a cum dumpster when you need to." Sophie said, her arms crossed in front of her.

"No! Sophie, I don't think of you that way at all. Things will be different, I promise." Jax said.

"I will help you with Abel during the day. I love that baby like he's my own and I want to spend time with him. At night, I'm going to be staying at Juice's house while he stays at the Clubhouse to make sure Bobby doesn't cook his chicken." She held up her hand to cut off the protest he was about to make. "I need some distance right now. When Wendy goes into sober living, we'll revist the arrangements."

Jax nodded and again wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head. "Anything you need, babe. I love you."

"I love you, too." She said, wrapping her arms around Jax.

_He may love you now but don't get too comfortable, bitch. _Wendy thought from her place eavesdropping in the hall. _I WILL be getting my family back together._


	20. Chapter 20

"Can I talk to you?" Sophie asked the next morning.

"Yeah, of course." Jax said.

"This thing with Wendy..." Sophie started. Jax held up his hand to stop her.

"There is no _thing_ with Wendy. She's just crashing in my spare room until she goes to sober living. That's it." Jax said.

"That's what she's told you." Sophie crossed her arms in front of herself. "I don't trust her, Jax. She's bad news."

"She's also Abel's mom, Soph." Jax replied.

"I've been that little boy's mother more than she could ever be." Sophie said, struggling to keep her voice even.

"I know. I know that you love Abel like he's your own. This is just a temporary situation. She'll be gone in a few days." Jax said.

"Do you even know what sober living house she's going to? I mean, do you even know that she's actually going to sober living?" Sophie asked. "She has done nothing to earn our trust."

"I get what you're saying, Sophie. Wendy has done nothing but cause problems but it's different now."

"Different how?" Sophie demanded.

"She's _sober_." Jax answered. "I've never seen her more clear."

"She's always clearest when she has a mission." Sophie groused.

"Her mission right now is to bond with Abel until she goes to sober living. She won't be around for long." Jax grinned at Sophie.

"What?" She huffed.

"You're really cute when you're jealous." He chuckled.

"I am _not_ jealous!" Sophie huffed.

"You're so jealous, you can't stand it. You don't like that Wendy's spending so much time with _your_ boys."

"You're not _my_ boys. I just don't trust her." Sophie said. She was looking at the ground, trying to figure out how best to explain it to him. It made Jax flash back to the day he first saw her after her ten year absence from his life. She hadn't been able to look at him much then but for different reasons. He was glad that Pete was out of her life for good.

"Speak of the devil." Jax said tipping his chin towards a white car pulling into the parking lot.

Sophie arched an eyebrow at him. "Hot lunch date?"

Jax chuckled again and threw his arm around her shoulders. "The only lunch date I want is with you." He kissed her quickly. "She's dropping the kid off while she goes to a meeting."

"I don't have anything pressing this afternoon, I could take him back to your place." Sophie shrugged.

"Nah, darlin. This is all me. I have to learn to take care of my son and not lay that burden on other people. Besides, I don't think my mom would appreciate you bailing after your impromptu vacation." Jax grinned.

"What impromptu vacation? There was no impromptu vacation. In fact, it was her idea." Sophie said.

"Yeah, right, and I have two dicks."

"With the places you've put that thing, I'm surprised it hasn't mutated into two yet." She rolled her eyes. "Your mom insisted that I take a couple of days off when I conked out on the couch."

Jax huffed. "I should have known she was behind it. She went so far as to tell me that she didn't know if you'd have a job when you came back."

"She's good." Sophie nodded.

"She knew I was going crazy trying to find you and she knew where you were the whole time!" Jax shook his head.

Sophie shrugged. "She raised you, she knew how badly I needed a break."

"That's my fault. I shouldn't have put so much on you." Jax said as Wendy walked up with Abel in his carrier.

"Hey," Wendy smiled at Jax. "I got everything he needs." She handed a diaper bag to Jax. "He doesn't seem to like his formula."

"There's a can of formula in the cupboard above the microwave that I labeled 'Use This' so Jax would know which can to use. It's got a little bit of rice cereal in it. He likes that." Sophie smiled at Wendy.

"Yeah, thanks." Wendy glared at Sophie. "Anyway," Wendy turned her attention back to Jax, "it's all here." She handed the baby in his carrier over to his father.

"Thanks, Wendy." Jax said.

"I'll come by and pick him up in a couple of hours." Wendy said running a hand down the front of Jax's cut.

"That won't be necessary." Jax said fighting the urge to take a step back.

"Well you can't very well bring him home on your bike now can you?" Wendy chuckled seductively.

"I got the truck." Jax said quickly. "It'll be fine."

"Okay then." Wendy shrugged. "I'll see you at home then." She stood up on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek.

Sophie watched her ex-friend walk away. She turned her attention back to Jax and arched a brow at him.

"There is _nothing _going on with her, I promise." Jax said. "My heart belongs to you."

* * *

"You're late." Wendy said when Jax walked through the door.

"No, I'm not." Jax replied as he set Abel's carrier on the table and started unbuckling him.

"You got off work three hours ago." Wendy pouted.

"Just because the clock hits five doesn't mean I'm done with my day." Jax said bouncing Abel in his arms as he started looking for the can of formula that Sophie had told him about. "Where's that can of formula with the cereal in it?"

"I threw it out." Wendy snapped. "Why didn't you call me to tell me you'd be late? I was worried!"

"Why did you throw it out?" Jax frowned.

"Because he's too young for cereal." Wendy said. "Why didn't you call me?"

Jax sighed. "That formula is all he'll take. He won't take plain." He pulled out his cell phone.

"Who are you calling?" Wendy demanded.

"I need to find out how much rice cereal Sophie put in the formula so I can make a bottle." Jax answered.

Wendy shrieked, scaring Abel into tears. "You do not need to call Sophie! All of the books say he's too young for cereal! You need to be _here_ Jax!"

"I am _here_, Wendy." Jax said trying to sooth his upset son. "I was here for him when he was in the hospital. I've been here for him."

Wendy scoffed. "You mean Sophie was here. Look, Jax, our son needs his father _and_ his mother. Yeah, it'll be hard when I go into sober living but we can make it work this time."

"I don't want to make it work with you, Wendy. Abel's mother is staying at somebody else's house tonight because I screwed up and drove her away."

Wendy slapped Jax for all she was worth. She pointed her finger in his face. "I am Abel's mother."

"Wendy, you're on a crazy train bound for Psychoville. I'm glad you're sober but we're not getting back together." Jax said. He wasn't prepared for her to rake her fingernails across his face, leaving one long scratch. Jax licked his lips, put Abel back in his carrier and grabbed the diaper bag.

"Where are you going?" Wendy demanded.

"If I don't leave right now, I am going to hurt you, Wendy. Physically hurt you. I am taking my son somewhere safe; somewhere away from my psychotic ex. You need to be gone by morning." Jax said before heading for the front door.

"You better not leave this house, Jackson! If you leave, you will regret it!" Wendy screamed.

Jax left without a word.

* * *

Sophie groaned when a knock at the door woke her up from her dozing on Juice's couch. She opened the door. "Yeah?"

"Can we come in?" Jax grinned.

"What happened?" Sophie asked as she followed Jax into the kitchen.

"Wendy's psycho." Jax shrugged.

"I could have told you that." Sophie said as she ran water onto a paper towel and gently dabbed at his scratch. He winced a little at the sting of the water. "Sorry," she said quietly. "You wanna talk about it?"

"She demanded to know why I was late, why I hadn't called her." Jax shook his head. "She wants us to be a family."

"What do you want?" Sophie asked.

"Not that." Jax said. "I liked my family the way it was before she showed up." Jax looked at Sophie intensely, trying to convey to her how much he needed her until Abel started fussing in his carrier. "He's hungry. He didn't eat at all today."

"I tried telling her." Sophie sighed. Jax pulled a can of formula and some rice cereal out of the diaper bag. Sophie went to work fixing Abel a bottle.

Half an hour later, Abel was sleeping soundly in Sophie's arms after he'd eaten and gotten a diaper change. It had been funny for Sophie as she watched Jax try to change his son's diaper. But with a little help, Abel was put back together and comfortable.

"Thanks for your help with him. I really mean it, Sophie. Thank you for everything." He said quietly.

"You're welcome." She said. "You gonna help out with him more?"

"Yeah," Jax gave a half smile and ran his hand over his son's hair. "You gonna come back?"

"Yeah," Sophie smiled at him. "It's lonely without you to snuggle with at night and I'm bored during the day without Abel."

"You're stuck with us now." Jax grinned.

"You're stuck with me." Sophie grinned back.

* * *

"Jackson Teller," Chief Deputy Hale said the next morning as he got out of his police jeep.

"Yeah?" Jax asked, wondering why Hale was addressing him as Jackson.

"Turn around, please." Hale said. Jax complied. Hale started patting him down.

"What the hell?" Chibs shouted.

"You gonna tell me what this is about?" Jax said with a cocky grin on his face.

"You're under arrest for domestic violence." Hale said, guiding Jax's hands to the back of his head.

"Domestic violence?" Jax asked. "I would never hurt Sophie!"

"We got a call from your house. Your wife says you smacked her around last night. Said she scratched you in defense." Hale said spinning Jax around after he was handcuffed and pointed to the scratch on Jax's face.

"She's my _ex_-wife and we don't live together. She was staying with me until she goes into sober living. Last night I told her I didn't want to get back together with her and she freaked out. I never touched her." Jax said angrily.

"Then explain to me the bruises all over her face." Hale replied.

"It wasn't me!" Jax shouted.

"It's true." Sophie said. "He was with me last night. He couldn't have hurt Wendy."

"She said it happened before Jax left." Hale shrugged.

"Don't worry, baby, I'll come bail you out." Gemma said, her hands on her hips.

"I'm not worried about it, Ma. Wendy's full of shit like always." Jax shook his head as Hale put him in the passenger seat of the jeep.

"This is bullshit." Sophie huffed. "What are we going to do? He could be in serious trouble."

"We're going to pay a visit to the ex." Gemma said, anger burning in her eyes.


	21. Chapter 21

Sophie's hands were full of whatever Jax had on his person at the time of his arrest. She handed all but one item to Gemma.

"Where you goin?" Gemma asked as Sophie stalked towards her car.

"_Home,_" Sophie snapped.

Gemma grinned after her.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Wendy demanded when Sophie walked in.

"I _live_ here. Get your shit and get out of my house." Sophie snarled.

"This is _my_ house! Jax bought it for me!" Wendy huffed. "I'm calling the police."

"You've been doing that a lot lately." Sophie grinned. "While you have them on the phone you should tell them that you lied and Jax didn't lay a hand on you."

Wendy snorted. "In your dreams." She had her cellphone to her ear. "Yes, I'd like to report an unwanted person in my home." Sophie rolled her eyes and stood quietly by until Wendy was done with her phone call. "They're sending somebody over so you better leave."

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me why you set Jax up." Sophie said, crossing her arms in front of her.

Wendy smirked. "It's none of your concern."

With one deft move, Sophie pulled out Jax's KABAR and held against Wendy's face. "Wrong answer. I don't know what's going on in that stupid little psycho brain of yours but you are going to drop the bogus charges against Jax."

"This is assault with a deadly weapon!" Wendy said, fear written all over her face.

"You're not going to say shit except that Jax didn't put those bruises on your face." Sophie growled. "I grew up SAMCRO. You heard of the Tacoma Killer?" When Wendy's eyes went wide and she gasped, Sophie grinned. "He taught me everything he knows. They'll never find your body."

"You wouldn't!" Wendy said, trying to slap Sophie's hand away.

"Try me." Sophie ground out, her free hand squeezing Wendy's face as she put the knife back against Wendy's swollen and bruised cheek. Wendy gasped in pain. "Who's going to miss a junkie whore who didn't show up for sober living? As far as I know, I came over to get some more stuff for Abel and you were gone."

"Jax would never go along with it." Wendy replied.

"Jax doesn't need to know." Sophie said. "And with you out of the way, his charges go away."

"I'll tell the police when they get here! You'll be locked up right next to him." Wendy promised.

"_Please_." Sophie scoffed. "I'll post bail and come right back here. Try it...I dare you."Sophie dropped her free hand to Wendy's throat and started squeezing. "I will ring your scrawny neck. Nothing I can do to you can compare to what will happen to you if and when Gemma gets her hands on you. I told her to give me a 10 minute head start, see if I couldn't talk some sense into you. She wanted to come right over and kill you on the spot. You're lucky she gave me the chance to come in first. But time's running out. If she shows up, you're as good as dead." Sophie got a perverse satisfaction out of seeing the color drain from Wendy's face...well as much as she could see through the bruises on Wendy's face. A car door slammed in the driveway. "You should really consider dropping those charges against Jax." Sophie said before slipping the knife up her sleeve.

A knock on the door snapped Wendy's attention away from Sophie. Wendy silently prayed that it was the police and not Gemma. Wendy Case had no doubt that Gemma Teller would skin her alive and apparently Sophie was willing to help. Wendy hadn't thought her plan all the way through. She hadn't taken into consideration that she'd have to face Mama Bear. And Wendy had totally underestimated Jax's new girl toy. Wendy sighed in relief when she opened the door to Hale.

"Everything okay here?" Hale asked as he walked into the house.

"Everything's fine." Sophie smiled.

"Then why did we get a call about an unwanted person at this location?" Hale asked as he arched a brow at her.

"Well, honestly, Wendy doesn't really want me here but she forgets that I live here and she doesn't. Jax was just nice enough to let her stay here for a couple of days." Sophie replied.

"And we know how that ended." Hale said grimly.

"Yeah, about that..." Wendy started. Sophie grinned smugly at her. "Jax didn't really beat me up."

"So the bruises just magically appeared?" Hale scoffed.

"I went to the Harry Dog and paid Whistler to rough me up." Wendy admitted.

"Why did you tell us he hit you?" Hale demanded.

"Because I was mad at him." Wendy shrugged.

"Shit," Hale spat. "You have to come down to the station and make a statement clearing Jax."

"Sure, I can do that." Wendy eagerly agreed.

* * *

Jax couldn't suppress a smile when he walked out of the police station and saw Sophie standing there waiting for him. He unconsciously rubbed his wrists where the handcuffs had been.

"Hey, darlin." He said, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Hey," She said back, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm so glad you're out."

"I wasn't in for very long." Jax smirked.

"Still. I hate that that stupid bitch lied about what happened to her." Sophie grouced.

"It doesn't matter." Jax said. "Let's just get the hell out of here. Where's the kid?"

"I left him with your mom. She has all your rings and shit too." Sophie said, sliding behind the wheel as Jax got into the passenger side.

* * *

"Thanks for bringing my boy home." Gemma whispered as she hugged Sophie after she welcomed Jax back to TM.

"It was nothing." Sophie smiled.

"Hey, babe?" Jax asked frowned after he'd replaced all of his personal items the police had taken off him.

"Yeah," Sophie turned to him.

"You know where my knife is?" He asked.

"Um...yeah." Sophie said. She slipped it out of her sleeve and handed it to him.

"Do I want to know?" He asked.

"No. No, you don't." Sophie gave him a small smile.

"I do!" Juice said. "Tell me!"

"I didn't do anything." Sophie said.

"Yeah, I don' believe you." Jax told her.

"She didn't do anything that any self-respecting ol lady wouldn't do." Gemma smiled. "Besides, the junkie whore's not dead, is she? Sophie didn't do anyting then."

Sophie smiled at Gemma. She'd earned the Queen's approval...for now.


	22. Chapter 22

"We need to have 'the talk.'" Jax said the next morning as he set his coffee cup on the table to join Sophie for breakfast.

"'The talk,' huh?" Sophie arched an eyebrow at him. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Jax but Herman had _the talk_ with me years ago. Plus I had refreshers in Health class."

Jax glared at her. "Not _that_ talk. I mean the talk about what you want to do with your life."

"I'm doing what I want with my life." Sophie replied.

Jax sighed. "You don't want to be a mechanic for the rest of your life. I mean, that's all I can really do but you could do so much more."

"You do more than that, Jax. You outlaw. And you do it damn well." Sophie grinned.

"We can't both outlaw. One of us has to be straight so that Abel will always be taken care of." Jax said.

"I know." Sophie nodded. "I just never really thought about it. I always knew that I'd marry a Son and that it would be up to him if I even worked outside of home."

"Well, I know you and I know that you wouldn't be happy if you had to stay home with the kids." Jax replied.

"Yeah, well, it'll come as no surprise to you that not all guys see it that way." Sophie grinned.

*******OMG You guys! I got this far in two days. I am just seriously stuck. I am so sorry. I am not going to stop writing this story; it will continue and it will have a proper ending. If you have ANY ideas, please PM me! I am just at such a loss. I may have to step away from this for a bit until I can figure out something.*******


	23. Chapter 23

**Somebody actually mentioned a plot point in another story I'm writing that actually works perfectly for this story so block "broken"! Also, there are a few story ideas posted on my profile. Please look at them and let me know what you think. Thanks!**

"You seem a little tense." Jax said, rubbing Sophie's shoulders.

"I'm just excited." She smiled widely at him. A bunch of people were crowded around, waiting anxiously outside the Clubhouse. It was a monumental day for the SAMCRO family. Food and drinks were ready to go.

"What are you going to do with two men in your life?" Jax grinned.

"Don't flatter yourself, Teller. There are more than two men in my life." Sophie grinned. Jax scowled at her. "You, Abel, Herman-"

"Shit, I forgot about your brother." Jax admitted.

"And you forgot your own son." Sophie rolled her eyes and smiled.

"He's too young to be a man just yet." Jax grinned. Sophie stuck her tongue out at him which earned her a hearty laugh from him. "Don't tease me, darlin." He cautioned. "Or I'll put you over my shoulder and take you back to my room."

"You are such a caveman." She said playfully.

"Don't I know it." He said, dropping his hands to her hips.

The rumble of motorcycles entering the parking lot followed by SAMCRO's black panel van had everybody clapping and cheering. Finally, he was home. Once the van was parked, people crowded around, eager to greet their beloved Son back from Stockton State Prison after six long years.

"Get up there, babe." Jax nodded his chin towards the van.

"Nah, I'll let Luann say her hellos first." Sophie said, butterflies in her stomach. The only man who had ever acted like a father to her had missed six years of freedom. She was excited to have him back. It seemed like time slowed to a crawl until he finally got to her. Sophie threw her arms around his neck, trying not to cry.

"Why you all the way back here, baby girl?" He said quietly against her ear.

"Just waitin' on you, old man." She laughed.

"Otto!" Jax said with a grin in his voice. Otto broke away from Sophie to turn his attention to Jax.

"VP!" Otto said, shaking Jax's hand and pulling him into a quick bro hug.

"Good to have you back." Jax said as Otto pulled Luann to his side.

"It's great to be back." Otto smiled. "You treatin my girl good?"

"Of course!" Jax said, grinning.

"You gonna put a ring on that shit soon?" Otto replied.

"We tried that once, Otto." Sophie said. Jax put his hands in his pockets and Sophie slid her hand between his body and his elbow. "We're just going to see how things go."

"She's livin' with you, raisin' your kid, and you haven't put a ring on her yet?" Otto huffed.

"Otto, leave them alone." Luann rolled her eyes.

"Let me tell you something, boy." Otto said seriously. "I loved your old man and I love you. But VP or no VP, you hurt her again, I will cut your dick off and serve it to you for breakfast."

"Jesus, Otto!" Sophie cried.

"You got my word, Mr. Delaney. I won't hurt your daughter again." Jax deadpanned.

"Damn right you won't." Otto said clapping a hand on Jax's shoulder. "Now let's go get drunk."

"You got it." Jax grinned.

"Men." Luann said shaking her head.

"It's nice to see Otto joking around so quickly." Sophie said.

"Oh, he wasn't joking, darlin. There's a reason Jax called Otto 'Mr. Delaney.' It was a sign of Jax's respectin Otto." Luann smiled. "We never had kids so you're his little girl."

* * *

It wasn't late when Jax and Sophie got home. Seeing as Otto was driven onto the lot in the early evening, Luann finally dragged Otto off to their house for some "quality" time around 10 pm. Of course some of the Sons stayed to party long into the night but Jax and Sophie left when Otto did.

"Otto sure gave you a hard time." Sophie said when they walked through Jax's front door.

"I expected him to bust my balls. After we broke up, he refused to see me for three months." Jax said.

"What?" Sophie gasped. "I didn't know that! He never told me!"

"I broke your heart, darlin. He doesn't take shit that has to do with you lightly." Jax said. Jax paid Neeta before he and Sophie checked on a sleeping Abel.

"I don't get it." Sophie said as she was washing the makeup off her face.

"Get what?" Jax said wiping toothpaste out of his beard on a towel.

"Why Otto is so...protective of me." Sophie said.

"Because, darlin. He loves you like a daughter. Kozik can't be here to protect you and he took it upon himself to make sure that you were being taken care of. He knows your parents weren't there for you. He knows Kozik did the best he could to raise you but he was just a kid himself." Jax explained as they crawled into bed.

Sophie rolled onto her side and positioned herself under Jax's arm, her head resting over his "Abel" tattoo.

"It is kind of nice to have a guy that cares so much about me." Sophie admitted.

"Hey!" Jax said playfully.

"Besides you and Abel!" She laughed. "Kozik's protective but..."

"He's not a dad." Jax said.

"Yeah. I guess it's kind of nice to have a dad." Sophie smiled. Jax kissed the top of her head.

***Short chapter after a long wait for an update, I know! I'm sorry! I just wanted to get this posted and I'll work on getting some more stuff happening soon!***


	24. Chapter 24

Sophie shifted Abel on her hip while she made him a bottle.

"Mornin." Came Jax's sleepy voice from behind her.

"Morning, baby." Sophie smiled. Jax frowned at her. "What?"

"You feelin okay?" Jax asked, walking up to her and putting the back of his hand against her cheek.

"I feel fine, why?" She scowled back at him.

"You look pale and you're a little warm." Jax said grabbing a cup and filling it with coffee.

"Jax, I'm just tired. And I'm warm because I've got a baby on my hip and I've been movin' around making his breakfast. I'm fine." She said.

"You sure? I can take the kid to TM with me." Jax said as he plopped himself into a chair at the kitchen table.

"Nah, baby. I'm fine. You worry too much." Sophie said, bending down to give him a quick kiss.

"It's in my nature." Jax grinned.

"Yeah, well, here," she said handing Abel to him, "feed him so I can get ready."

* * *

"You doin okay, baby?" Gemma asked. She was sitting at the bar waiting for the guys to get out of Church.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sophie shrugged. "Where's Abel?"

"Donna kidnapped him. I think she's got baby fever again." Gemma grinned. "You look a little sick."

"I don't know why. Jax said the same thing this morning. I feel fine." Sophie shrugged.

"Probably just tired from all the excitement yesterday." Gemma said.

"That's my guess." Sophie said. "I'll just take a nap when we get home."

"Good." Gemma replied.

"I'm gonna hit Jax's bathroom." Sophie said, getting up and heading off down the hall.

* * *

"Hey ma," Jax kissed his mom's cheek when he got out of Church. "Where's Soph?"

It hadn't been that long since Sophie had gone to the bathroom. Gemma shrugged, "In your bathroom."

"Thanks," he went down the hall. Gemma wasn't sure how long Jax had been gone. It was less than a minute before she heard "Mom! Call 911!"

Gemma rushed down the hall, her phone pressed to her ear. Sophie was laying on Jax's floor, unconscious, Jax knelt next to her lighting slapping her face. "Babe, wake up. Come on, Sophie, wake up for me."

* * *

It was hours later when Sophie finally woke up. She was disoriented at first until a doctor walked in.

"Good to see you awake Mrs. Kozik." The doctor said.

"What happened?" She asked.

"You passed out." The doctor said.

"Why?" Sophie asked.

"It's not that uncommon among women in their first trimester." The doctor said. "You're not getting enough fluids. Not taking the proper vitamins."

"First trimester of what?" Sophie asked.

"Mrs. Kozik, you're six weeks pregnant." The doctor said.

"Wait...what? No, that's not possible. That cannot be possible." Sophie said.

"It can and it is." The doctor said. "Stay off your feet the next couple of days, get lots of rest, drink lots of fluids. Start taking prenatal vitamins."

"Yeah...okay." Sophie said. "Have you told anybody else that I'm pregnant?"

"No." The doctor said. "We like to discuss the diagnosis with patients first when possible."

"Okay, thanks." Sophie gave the doctor a small smile.

"Doctor, the visitors are getting...restless. Her husband is about to start beating the orderlies." A nurse said poking her head in the door.

"I'll send your husband in." The doctor smiled. "You're a very lucky lady, Mrs. Kozik. You have a lot of people in the waiting room that care for you."

"Thanks." Sophie said. Husband?

Jax walked in and sighed. He gave her a quick kiss. "Jesus, babe. You scared the shit out of me."

"I didn't mean to." Sophie said as he intertwined their fingers.

"What the fuck happened?" Jax asked.

"Well, dear husband," she grinned.

"Yeah, they weren't going to tell me shit since I wasn't family." Jax said. "Speaking of which, Koz is on his way down."

"Oh good." Sophie rolled her eyes. "I can tell him he's going to be an uncle in person."

Jax stilled. "It doesn't matter," he said, not paying any attention to her words. "We just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, Jax. Just gotta stay off my feet for a couple of days, drink more fluids, and take some vitamins." Sophie said.

"What kind of vitamins? Iron and shit?" Jax asked.

"Baby," she squeezed his hand, "the doctor said that it wasn't uncommon for women in their first trimester."

"Trimester of what? Jesus, do you have cancer? Babe! I...I gotta...fuck, I gotta go tell them what's going on. I'll be right back." Jax hurried, rushing off.

"No, Jax! Wait!" Sophie called but it was too late. He was gone.

* * *

"Jax, baby, what is it?" Gemma asked when she saw her son. He was pale, shaking, and he was trying to hold back tears.

"She's gotta stay off her feet, drink fluids and take Iron and shit. The doctor said it wasn't uncommon for women in their first trimester." Jax said fiercely pulling his mom into his arms. "Mom, I don't know how I'm going to live without her."

"Jax, baby," Gemma tried, a smile spreading across her face. Jax was unaware of the smiles on his brothers' faces.

"Jax, you don't have to live without her." Donna said. "She's not dying; she's pregnant, you idiot!"

Jax pulled away, a tear rolling down his cheek, looking dumbfounded at Donna.

"Yeah, but you're gonna wish you were dying." Opie grinned.

Jax turned on his heel and hurried back into Sophie's hospital room.

"You return!" She said, a smile on her face.

"You're...you're pregnant?" Jax asked.

"Six weeks." Sophie said. Jax ran a hand down his face. "We don't have to decide anything right now, Jax."

"What's there to decide?" Jax asked. "You're going to have my baby! And...everybody knows already."

"Great." Sophie rolled her eyes. Jax quickly climbed onto the bed with her and kissed her face all over.

"I love you so much." Jax said.

"I love you too!" Sophie said.

* * *

**Another short chapter. I think I'm going to wrap this up within the next chapter or two.**


	25. Chapter 25

"You ready?" Juice asked.

"I think so." Sophie huffed out a sigh.

"Nervous?" Otto asked.

"What if he's not there again?" Sophie asked.

"He'll be there." Otto said, his eyes sliding to Kozik.

"I know, I know, I know." Sophie sighed. "And I look like a freakin' whale."

"No, you look seven months pregnant." Kozik replied.

"I still have no idea why Jax insisted on getting married while I'm this pregnant." Sophie snarked.

"Because he loves you and he wants you to be his." Otto said kissing her forehead.

Forty-five minutes later, Sophie's heart was in her throat. She stood at the beginning of the isle on Kozik's arm and again, Jax was not at the end. The music started and wouldn't you know? Jax, the ever lovin' smart-ass, and his best-man, Opie, came out to stand at the end of the isle. Jax had a big smirk on his face while Sophie just glared at him, trying to hide her own smile. The wedding, of course, went off without a hitch.

Two months later, Jax and Sophie welcomed a son, Thomas (surprise right?). Donna was never killed by Tig; Abel was never kidnapped; Clay never set up a hit on Sophie. No, this story ends a little differently.

Agent Stahl _did _show up in Charming. Jax, Clay, Juice, Bobby, Happy, and Tig went to prison for 14 months. Almost 9 months to the day after Jax was released, Sophie gave birth to a daughter, Morgan Rose Teller. Sophie found her calling being a fulltime old lady and mom. Jax and Sophie weathered the violence brought by dealing with the cartel. There was a gun battle with _Lobos Sonora _and big Irish pizzas were ordered. Some of the Galindo cartel was killed by stepping on landmines but Kozik was not one of them.

Piney got a hold of some documents implicating Clay in the death of JT. Clay, of course, killed Piney to keep that secret. Once Gemma found out, she confronted Clay and he proceeded to beat the hell out of her. When Jax found out, he went to the Clubhouse to see what his stepfather had to say for himself. Before he could confront Clay, Clay voiced his concerns crudely about where Jax's head was since there was "tight, young pussy" around his house. Clay ended up with 30 broken bones in his hands and the warning that if Clay ever spoke about Jax's daughter that way again, Jax would cut his head off.

Of course, due to arthritis and now severely crippled hands after Jax pounded them into the table-possibly using the gavel to inflict some injuries-Clay had to step down as President. Jax took the reigns of SAMCRO with Opie as VP and Chibs as SAA. Tig never killed Veronica Pope so they never went to jail and Opie was never brutally murdered. In fact, Clay was never able to ride again and thus had to leave the Club.

The RICO case never happened. Otto never went back to prison or ratted on the Club. Luann was never beaten to death...she also never slept with Bobby. Juice never tried to kill himself.

Gemma met Nero. They fell in love and Gemma was happier than she had been in years, surrounded by her grandchildren and a man that treated her well. Jax got the club out of the guns and drugs. Once the kids were all in school, Sophie went to work with Donna at Oswald Beef.

No matter what happens in Season 6 of Sons of Anarchy, in this universe EVERYBODY LIVES HAPPILY EVER AFTER...except Clay.

~THE END~


	26. Chapter 26

**A word from our sponsors:**

I know some of you weren't happy with the way Broken ended. So, what I'd like to do is something different. What I want is for fans of Damaged & Broken to pm me or review this with what you want to see. If there's a scene in your mind, let me know. I'll start a new story called Broken: One Shots. And like it says, it'll be a series of one shots that you want to see. Be as detailed as you want and no request is off limits.


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